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THE 
OR 

GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE 

IN -TIIE ' 

MANAGEMENT OF HORSES 

UNDER VARIOUS DISEASES. 

With an explanation of the Symptoms attending the differ- 

ent Disorders, and the shortest, plainest, and most 

humane methods of caring them. 

DIRECTIONS 

FOR JUDGING OF THE HORSE'S AGE, 

AND USEFUL OBSERVATIONS 

ON THE 

Breeding, Raising, and Training of Colts* 
HINTS TO PURCHASERS, 

And general directions for using a Horse on a journey, with 

useful rules for riding with safety, gracefulness, &c. 

and- directions to perform the necessary 

Surgicat Operations. 

RECEIPT FOR GELDING, 

Oi A NEW AND IMPROVED PLAN: 

And for securing Horses from the dangers arising from Rots, 
Truncheons, &c. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

THE HORSE'S SKELETON, 

Taken from that of the Academy of Sciences at Paris 
BY JAMES WARE, 

Amherst County, Virginia. 



A righteous man regardeih the life of his beast. 5 
Pro-j. xii. 10. 



T, W. WHITE, PRISTEB, 

1828., 



EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA, to wit: 

Be it Remembered, That on the ninth day of Oc- 

(L. S.) tober, in the fifty-first year of the Independence 

of the United States of America, James Ware* 

of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of 

a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words 

following-, to wit: 

" The Pocket Farrier ; or Gentleman's Guide in the man. 
agement of Horses under various diseases, with an explana- 
tion of the symptoms attending the different disorders, and 
the shortest, plainest, and most humane methods of curing 
them. 

" Directions for judging of the horse's age, and useful 
observations on the breeding, raising, and training of colts. 

"Hints to purchasers, and general directions for using a 
horse on a journey, with useful rules for riding with safety, 
gracefulness, &c, and directions to perform the necessary 
surgical operations. 

"Receipt for Gelding, on a new and improved plan, and 
for securing horses from the dangers arising from Bots, 
Truncheons, he, to which is added, the horse's skeleton, 
taken from that of the Academy of Sciences at Paris. 

" By James Ware, Amherst county, Virginia. 

" A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast." — Prov. 
sii. 10." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United 
States, entitled " an act, for the encouragement of learning, 
bv securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the 
authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times 
il-.-rein mentioned." 

RICHARD JEFFRIES, 
Clerk of the Eastern District of Virginia, 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Age, 

Breeding 1 , ... 

Directions to Purchasers, 

Riding Gracefully, . 

Skeleton, 

Training-, ... 

Travelling", 



Page 

13 



32 
18 

37 

28 

b 

23 

24 





CHAPTER II. 






03f THE DISEASES. 




Anticor, 


. 


- 47 


Abscesses, 


■ n « 


50 


Apoplexy, 


- 


- ib. 


Bad Appetite, 


. 


51 


'Barbs, 


- 


- 52 


Big Shoulder, 


L 


ib. 


Bites of Poisonous Animals, 


. 152 


Blood Spavin, 


- 


55 


Bone Spavin, - 


. 


- 56 


Blind Spavin, 


. 


57 


Bots, Grubs, &c. 


. 


. 58 


Broken Wind, 


. 


64 


Bloody Flux, 


. 


. 62 


Big- Head, - 


. 


66 


Buffalo Fly, - 


- 


. 65 



IV 









Page 


Crown Scab, - 


- 




- 67 


Colds, - 


m o 


. 


68 


Consumption, 


• 




- 69 


Convulsions, 


= 


. 


. i 70 


Chest Founder, 


. 




- 72 


Corns, 


. 


. 


73 


Cough, 


. 




- 74 


Choked, - 


■a 


. 


ib. 


Curb, 


. 




. 75 


Cracked Heels, 


- 


. 


76 


Choiic, 


. 




- ib. 


Crib Biting, 


- 


- 


78 


■Dropsy, 


- 




- 79 


Diabetes, 


. 


. 


81 


Eyes, 


«. 




- 82 


Eye Water, 


- 


* 


85 


Farcy, 


- 




- ib. 


Fistula, 


■ 


- 


90 


Fevers, 


- 




- 93 


Fattening 1 , 


- 


. 


94 


Fourtfters, 


- 




- 98 


Glanders, 


- 


. 


145 


Gonorrhoea, 


. 




. 102 


Gravel, or Stone in the Bladder, 


- 


142 


Grease, 


- 




. 103 


Gravel in the Hoof, 


. 


105 


Gutta Serena, 


- 




- 140 


Hide Bound, 


- 


. 


106 


Hooks, or Haw, 


- 




- 107 


Hungry Evil, 


- 


- 


309 


Injections, how to 


give, 


- 


- 110 


Lair pas, 


- 


. 


111 


Lethargy. 


- 


- 


- 112 











Pass 


Laxity* 




- 


- 


-' 113 


Lockjaw, 


- 


- 




147 


Malenders, 




- 


- 


. 114 


Mange;. - 


- 






115 


Maw Worms, 




- 


- 


- 62 


Molten Grease, 


. 


■ - 




116 


Moon Eyes, - 




. 


- 


. 83 


Osseletts, 


. 


. 




nr 


Poisons, 




- 


- 


- 143 


Poll Evil, 


- 


- 




113 


Quitter Bone, 




- ' 


- 


. ib. 


Ring Bone, 


- 


- 




119 


Rupture, 




- 


- 


. 120 


Rat's Tail, 


. 


- 




ib. 


Sit Fasts, 




■ a 


- 


. 121 


Sore Tongue, 


. 


. 




123 


Salenders, 




. 


- 


- 124 


Stifle, 


. 


. 




125 


Strains, 




. 


. 


. 126 


Scratches, 


. 


. 




127 


Swinney, 




- 


. 


. 129 


Splint, 


- 


- 




130 


Stranguary, and Disordered Kidneys, 


• 


- 131 


Strangles, 


- 


- 




132 


Surfeit, 




- 


- 


. 134 


String Halt, 


- 


- 




136 


Thumps, 




- 


- 


- 137 


Vives, or Avives, 


- 


- 




138 


Warts, 




- 


. 


- ib. 


Warbles, 


. 


. 




139 


Wounds, 




. 


- 


. 156 


Wolf 1 eeth, 


. 


- 




140 


Yellow Water, 




- 


. 


- 144 



VI 



CHAPTER III. 




SURGICAL OPJKRATIGSS. 






Pagb 


Barring- the Veins, - 


- 176 


Blistering, - 


160 


Bleeding, - 


- 163 


Bleeding- in the Neck, 


164 




. 166 








167 


-— — in the Arms, • 


- ib. 


- in the Thigh, 


168 


i n the Flanks, 


- ib % 


in thr Till i 


169 


— — in the Coronet, 


- 170 


— in the Lachrymal Vein, 


171 


Directions for Gelding, 


- 173 


Docking, - 


187 


Firing, - « 


- 179 


Manner of Glanding, 


171 


Nicking, - 


- 187 


Pricking in Shoeing, 


178 


Setons, - 


. 161 


Unhoofing, 


172 


Conclusion, * -;.'■'• - 


- 190 



PREFACE 



This Jittle work being intended for the pock- 
et, I shall only offer to the public such informa- 
tion as 1 possess, with candor and brevity — al~ 
ways avoiding, as much as possible, all redundant 
and uncommon terms, it being my object to be 
useful and intelligible, rather than to appeal 
learned. 

I observe with surprise, that men of education 
and talents, who, in other respects, appear desir- 
ous of being serviceable to their country, seldom 
turn their attention to that noble and useful ani- 
mal, the horse; whilst they every day uselessly 
throw away their time and knowledge on the de- 
scription and anatomy of vile insects, useless ani- 
mals, worms, &lc. 

Our country (and I am sorry to see it,) is more 
regardless of the welfare of this noble animal, 
than Europe, though his exertions are in as great 
demand here, as well for our pleasures as for our 
comforts and necessities. In the catalogue of 
Farriers, only one or two in the United States 
2 



XIV 

are worthy of our perusal, or have turned their 
attention to this very interesting and useful sub- 
ject. 

Natural history has very deservedly become an 
object of general attention. It leads to discove- 
ries of the greatest importance to mankind; and 
agriculture (the most useful of all sciences) is in- 
debted to it for its most valuable improvements, 
and cannot be brought to any degree of perfec- 
tion without some knowledge of that science. 

Anatomy, a branch of natural history, is like- 
wise of great importance to agriculturists, espe- 
cially so far as it respects a knowledge of the 
horse — on whose exertions they not only depend, 
but likewise the whole human family. How often 
do we see him the sole dependence of the poor 
farmer, his wife and his children, sharing in their 
toils, and keeping them not only from want, but 
filling their granaries even to a luxury of abun- 
dance! In every species of drudgery, the horse 
bears the principal burden, and even seems to de- 
light in being made the instrument of man's plea- 
sure. 

In a work of this nature, it would be presump- 
tuous in me to claim entire originality; and so 
far from it, I confess having perused many au- 
thors on the subject, (all Europeans except one,) 



XV 

and gathered from them much useful matter, when 
their opinions appeared to me to be founded on 
reason and experience. I hope this acknowledg- 
ment will be a sufficient apology for not marking 
quotations. 

Several diseases, and among them sbme very 
fatal ones not noticed by other authors, will be 
found in this work; and among the receipts, those 
for gelding, and the bots, will alone be more va- 
luable to the farmer than the entire cost of this 
little volume. 

This little treatise contains, observations oti 
breeding, raising, and training of horses; a de- 
scription of the diseases to which they are ex- 
posed; the symptoms of the diseases, and the re- 
medies to be applied for their cure; together with 
the necessary surgical operations to be performed 
on those animals. 

To assist the well-meant endeavors of the hus- 
bandman; to eradicate dangerous and ill-found- 
ed prejudices; to guard the ignorant and credu- 
lous against the frauds and impositions of dealers 
and jockeys: and to show men what is in their 
power, both with regard to preventing and curing 
diseases in horses. These were the author's prin- 
cipal inducements for writing and publishing the 
following sheets — and he hopes that they will not 



XVI 



be found unworthy of any farmer's perusal. They 
were suggested by an observation of men's con- 
duct with regard to their horses; a sincere desire 
to be useful to them, and confirmed by thirty 
years' experience and attention. During this pe- 
riod, it has often been the earnest wish of the 
writer, that his acquaintances and fellow creatures 
in general, had been possessed of some plain 
guide to direct their conduct towards this noble 
animal. How far he has succeeded in supplying 
the deficiency, he leaves to the candor and judg- 
ment of his readers to determine. 

But if his endeavors have, in any degree, con- 
tributed to alleviate the distresses and losses oc- 
casioned by ignorance in the proper manage- 
ment of the horse, he will consider his time and 
labor not wholly unrecompensed. 

The Author. 



THE 



CHAPTER I. 

SKELETON. 
I have thought it best to present to the public 
the Skeleton of the Horse, as taken from the 
Academy of Sciences in Paris, in order to give 
an explanation of the different parts of that ani- 
mal, without the tedious method of dissertation 
on the uses, shape and size of the different bones, 
the skeleton being sufficient to exhibit them, and 
to point out their different names and precise situ- 
ations. It would be too tedious in a work like 
this, to give a complete detail of the numerous 
parts constituting the horse's frame; it is hoped 
that the skeleton, with its explanations and refer- 
ences, will be very useful to the farrier, by af- 
fording the necessary directions in the surgical 
operations. 
2* 



18 

BREEDING. 
Nothing can be more interesting or beneficial 
to farmers, than the task of raising good horses, 
though it is attended with much trouble and ex- 
pense. Raising from mean, old, or diseased 
horses, is neither entertaining nor profitable. In 
this country, a four years old colt seldom costs 
the owner less than a hundred dollars: if, there- 
fore, your colt be worth only a hundred dollars, 
you lose your pains and time, besides other losses 
in proportion, when he falls short of that sum. It 
is evident, that a good colt may be raised on as 
moderate terms as a mean one. You should there- 
fore be particular in the choice of the dam and 
sire, and attend to their blood, size, age, and the 
cross they would make. Some people pay no 
regard to the age or health of the horse, and had 
as well put a good mare to a blind horse, as to 
any other, not observing that the offspring sel- 
dom fails to inherit the diseases and vices of their 
ancestors, rather than their good qualities. In 
all things that have life, not excepting plants, the 
crop must depend on the quality of the seed. 
Weakly and diseased animals, as well as injured 
seed, seldom produce a vigorous offspring, or a 
plentiful harvest. 



19 

Sportsmen know that generous coursers can- 
not come from diseased jades, nor spaniels from 
snarling curs. This is contrary to the laws of 
nature. Why then should we be so careless in 
selecting the breed of horses from which we in- 
tend to raise? . This noble animal has too great 
a share in the labors necessary for our existence, 
to be thus ungenerously neglected. We all know, 
that in the human race many diseases are heredi- 
tary; and experience teaches us that the same 
rule applies to animals. Young colts have often 
been known to wear the external appearance of 
old age, only from their having been gotten by 
old horses, or come out of old mares. 

English authors have said a great deal con- 
cerning the blood, form, and speed of their horses; 
especially Douinant, Bay Mai ton, Eclipse, Shark, 
&c. ; but I have no doubt that the American 
horses Eclipse, Sir Henry, Fiirtilla, Florizel, 
Virago, Potomac, Leviathan, and many more, 
would have had an equal claim to fame and su- 
periority, had they been in competition with them. 

It is stated that Flying Childress ran a mile in 
a few seconds over a minute; but I never saw 
such running, nor do I believe it possible. I be- 
lieve, however, that the speed of our best horses 



20 

is unknown, although they have contended with 
each other on the turf for many years. 

Were I to choose a mare to breed from, she 
should not be under four, nor exceed sixteen years 
of age, and not less than fifteen and a half hands 
high. The horse should be sixteen hands high at 
least. 

By breeding from such horses, you may rea- 
sonably expect something valuable; whilst from 
some breeds you never get but a poney, notwith- 
standing every care and attention. 

I would likewise recommend to every one to 
endeavor to raise early colts, by putting their 
mares to the horse as early in the spring as pos- 
sible. This is necessary, not only because mares 
are generally horsing in this season, and that this 
disposition of nature makes them produce a bet- 
ter offspring, but because the colt will by thi? 
means have the advantage of two summers to one 
winter, while young. When the mare colts late 
in the season, the colt is generally weak, because 
she does not yield a sufficiency of milk, for want 
of grass to feed upon. 

Some people suffer their colts to run at large 
until they are three or four years old; but this 
renders them wild, inimical to man, and difficult 
to break. Many horses have been ruined by oe- 



2i 

giecting to tame them before breaking, and mak- 
ing them fond of their master by gentle and ten- 
der treatment. 

From what has been said, it is plain that do- 
cility is one of the first qualities that a horse 
ought to possess, and that it requires all the pa- 
tience, skill and industry imaginable, to render a 
colt gentle, familiar, and fond of man. We now 
proceed to the manner of breaking colts. 

Although a horse is unfit for hard usage before 
he is five years old, yet he should be broken at 
the age of two and a half, or three. You should 
first accustom him to be bridled, saddled, and 
loosely girded, and suffer him to remain so in the 
stable two or three hours a day. When you wish 
to break him to the bridle, you should use a snaf- 
fle, and rub the bit with salt to make him fond of 
it. You should raise bis feet off the ground every 
day, and strike them with a hammer as if you 
intended to shoe him. When accustomed to suf- 
fer the saddle and bridle in the stable, have him 
mounted there by a ligLt rider. Trot him every 
other day with a halter, and on level ground, 
without being mounted. After being trained to 
turn easily and willingly, have him mounted and 
dismounted for some days s or even months, with- 
out walking out of place; when sufficiently gen- 



22 

tie, he should be led by the halter in a walk, then 
a trot, but always for a short time, lest you should 
disgust him. With these precautions, you may 
succeed in breaking colts, however wild and un- 
tractable. 

I shall conclude these remarks by recommend- 
ing to all persons the practice of making gentle 
their colts from their infancy, and above all, not 
to break them too suddenly, and to do it by slow 
and gentle means. Many colts have been ruined 
by harsh treatment and excessive fatigue in the 
first rudiments of riding. 

It is evident, from what has already been said, 
that this animal should not be forced to the full 
extent of his powers before a certain age; and 
consequently, his constitution may be impaired, 
(and it always is the case,) if compelled to hard- 
ship before the natural period: and even then it 
will prove hurtful, if abruptly applied. We know 
by experience, that men who have arrived at the 
age of maturity, lulled in the lap of ease, would 
be destroyed by hard labor, much sooner than 
youths nurtured to it from their childhood, 



23 

TRAINING. 

Of the five senses of nature with which horses, 
as well as men, are endowed, there are three in 
which the horse must be exercised in training: 
the sight, the hearing, and the feeling. We train 
a horse in the sense of sight, when we accustom 
him to the approach of objects that might terrify 
him; for there is no animal so sensible to the im- 
pression of objects which he has not seen before, 
as the horse. 

He is trained in the sense of hearing, when he 
is accustomed to the din of arms, drums, and 
other warlike noise; when he is made attentive 
and obedient to the call of the tongue, the crack 
of the whip, and sometimes to the gentle voice 
intended for caresses, or to the rougher tone em- 
ployed in threats. 

But the sense of feeling is the most necessary; 
for it is by that he is taught to obey the least 
movement of the hand and legs, by giving sensi- 
bility to his mouth and sides, if they be deficient 
in that respect — or by nursing that good quality, 
if he possess it already. For that purpose, aids 
and chastisements are employed — aids, to prevent 
the faults he might commit; chastisements, to 
punish him at the time he is guilty of them: and 
as horses obey only through fear of punishment, 



24 

aids are only warnings given to them, that they 
will be chastised if they answer not to their call. 



TRAVELLING. 

Before you undertake a long journey, it is ne- 
cessary that you should take your horse from 
grass and stable him at least one week before you 
set out. If he has been a long time on grass, a 
gentle purge may be necessary to assist nature te 
carry off the foulness brought on by grazing. 
He should be fed on solid food, and be thereby 
rendered more capable of undergoing the fatigues 
©f a long journey. I am not of the opinion of 
many who think that the horse should be entirely 
prohibited the use of green food while perform- 
ing hard duty; on the contrary, a reasonable 
quantity serves to keep the bowels open, sharpen 
the appetite, add greatly to their courage, and 
promote perspiration — things as useful to ani- 
mals as they are beneficial to the human species. 

Persons who have constant occasion for riding, 
such as sheriffs, or other persons of active busi- 
ness, will bear me out in the assertion, that horses 
that have, when travelling, been suffered to graze 
at convenient opportunities, have, nine times out 
of ten, been found to perform much better than 



25 j 

those that were closely confined, and ted only on 
solid food. 

When your horse is brought to you, it would 
be prudent to have him rode a few steps, instead 
of being led. You should examine the girths, 
stirrup leathers, saddle blanket, and other appen- 
dages, before mounting: this would obviate ma- 
ny inconveniences, and prevent many accidents 
that might befall you in the prosecution of your 
journey. Be careful to examine his shoes, and 
see if they are tight, and that the nails do not 
project over their hoofs to cut their ancles ; these 
defects should be remedied before you proceed 
any farther. 

Some horses are in the habit of swelling them- 
selves when you attempt to tighten the girths; it 
is difficult to draw them too close on such ani- 
mals, as they will slacken on breathing, or aban- 
doning the strap. Those that are not inclined to 
this vice, may be so tightly girthed as to occa- 
sion uneasiness, and obstruct the circulation of 
the blood: you should therefore avoid this fault, 
as it greatly tends to injure the performance, as 
well as the constitution of the horse. A. snuffle 
bridle is, in my opinion, to be preferred on a 
journey ; but if from any cause you be induced 
to use a curb, see that it is not drawn too high. 
3 



20 

I would also recommend to travellers to have the 
bit wrapped with a rag impregnated with assa- 
foedita: this has a tendency to guard them from 
infectious diseases on the road, increase their ap- 
petite, and add to their courage. When every 
thing is rightly adjusted, make your horse stand 
firm till you are properly seated. When you 
would have him move forward, do it at first with- 
out using either whip or spur, as this has a ten- 
dency to make him start at the application of 
either: but inform him of your meaning by some 
signal that he understands. Ride moderately for 
a mile or two to avoid heating his blood too sud- 
denly; you may then quicken his speed gradual- 
ly, as the importance of your business may re- 
quire. 

You may safely permit your horse to cool his 
mouth at almost every brook, provided he be not 
suffered to drink too copiously; this lias a ten- 
dency to refresh him, and to keep him in good 
spirits. If you perceive that your horse is thirs- 
ty, suffer him to drink his satisfaction about a 
mile from the inn at which you intend to tarry, 
provided he be not overheated : the exercise in 
this last mile will warm the water in his stomach 
and prevent its being injurious. Should you be 
inclined to have your horse watered in the stable, 



m 

it would be well to make his drink a little salt- 
ish, and throw a handful of meal into it — this 
practice is preferable to any other, and should 
be complied with on all occasions, especially if 
the horse be warm and fatigued. At the conclu- 
sion of your day's journey, turn your horse out 
in a lot, that he may have an opportunity of wal- 
lowing and cooling himself; fifteen or twenty mi- 
nutes after, you should wash his legs clean with 
cold water, and rub them nearly dry : after which, 
wet them over with equal parts of vinegar and 
spirits, and rub them till dry; let him be well 
curried, brushed, and rubbed with straw or wool- 
len; let his hoofs be nicely cleaned, especially 
under the toe of the shoe; this should be done 
every night, and occasionally stuffed with sail 
and clay, or cow-dung. Water again before feed- 
ing. Never let your horse stand on a plank floor 
if you can possibly avoid it. See that he has 
plenty of good sweet hay or fodder, and that his 
grain is sweet and sound. Let his stall be roomy, 
and well supplied with clean and dry litter. 

Many of these valuable animals have been de- 
stroyed by feeding on unsound grain. The own- 
ers of horses have often been perplexed in disco- 
vering their diseases, or the cause of their death, 
uever thinking of the above caution. If vou 



28 

should be compelled to feed on newly gathered 
food, pick out as much of the stem as you can 
conveniently; cut, mash and mix the cobs with 
the corn, so as to force him to eat as much cob 
as belongs to the grain; give him after this, half 
\ pint of spirits, and throw a handful of salt in 
the manger. This last caution will prevent the 
colic. 

By carefully observing the above rules, and 
strictly attending to them every day, you will in- 
sure success. 



RIDING GRACEFULLY. 

Most gentlemen and ladies take a pride in 
knowing how to ride safely, gracefully, and with 
ease — to attain this talent, it suffices to observe 
the following short directions: 

A snaffle bridle should be your choice in learn- 
ing to ride. 

Teach your horse to stand still while you 
mount him. 

A gentleman should hold the reins even and 
firm in his left hand. 

Place yourself firm in the saddle, the bod> 
erect, the head up, and the shoulders back. The 
arms should be kept close to the body, but with* 



29 

out constraint; the elbows bent at right angles 5 
and even with the back; the inside of the thigh 
and knee firm against the saddle, the just posi- 
tion of the legs entirely depending upon it; the 
ball of the foot should rest on the stirrups to 
command your body and the motion of the horse; 
the leg steady. 

The whip should be held in the right hand, 
resting over the arm, ready for use in case the 
horse should require chastisement. 

The right hand three inches higher than the 
left. 

As the movements of the bridle hand serve to 
notify the horse of the will of the rider, and the 
action produced by it in the mouth is the effect 
of different movements of the hand, it may not 
be amiss to state what they are, and their effects. 

The hand ought alwavs to commence the first 
effect, and the legs ought always to accompany 
that movement: for it is a general principle, thai 
in all gaits, as well natural as artificial, the head 
and shoulders of a horse ought to commence the 
first motion ; and as the horse has four principal 
movements — forward, backward, to the right, and 
to the left; the bridle hand ought likewise to pro- 
duce four different effects, yielding, bearing up, 
turning to the right, and to the left. 



30 

The first effect, which is yielding to the bridle 
in order to go forward, is a movement produced 
by sinking the hand and turning the nails a little 
under; the second action, which is bearing up, is 
done by drawing the hand towards the pit of the 
stomach, and turning the nails a little up. This 
last action is to produce a check, or to back the 
iiorse. You ought not, in this action, to bear to© 
much on the stirrups; and you must, as you draw 
in your hand, place your shoulders a little back, 
that the horse, in his stop, may bear on the hind 
fegs. The third effect is to turn to the right, in- 
clining your hand to that side, your nails turned 
a little up, that the left rein, which ought to pro- 
duce that action, may act with promptness. The 
fourth effect is turning to the left, bearing your 
hand to that side, your nails turned a little under, 
thai the right rein, which ought to produce tha» 
motion, may act. 

From what I have just said, you may easily 
perceive that a horse, obedient to the hand, is he 
that follows it in all its movements, and that on 
the effect of the hand, is founded that of the reins 
which cause the actions of the head. 

The Duke o( Newcastle has written a disser- 
tation on bridle reins, in which there appears to 
be some likelihood in speculation; but which, in 



31 

my estimation, destroys itself in the execution.— 
He says: "that on what side soever the reins may 
be held in, the mouth always goes to the oppo- 
site cheek of the bit: that when the cheek comes 
in, the mouth goes out; so that" continues he, 
l< the reins being separated when you draw to the 
right, the mouth goes to the other side, and 
obliges the horse to look out of the volt." 

This principle is destroyed by usage, which 
proves to us that the horse is inclined to obey 
the movement of the hand, to the side we draw 
the reins; for example, by drawing the right rein, 
the horse is forced to yield to the movement, and 
to incline his head to that side. 

I admit, that by simply drawing the rein, with- 
out bringing your hand to you as ought to be 
done on this occasion, the bearing will be hard- 
est on the opposite side; but that will not hinder 
the horse from obeying the hand, because he is 
obliged to follow the strongest impression, which 
proceeds not only from the bearing outside, but 
from the rein which acts on the mouth, drawing 
it, and consequently, the horse's head to the side 
you wish to go. Moreover, by using your hand 
in due time, you shorten the in rein a little, and 
then the bit bears on the part which you wish to 
determine. 



A lady, '-the master-piece of the Almighty,'' 
*and before whose charms the soul of man bows 
with reverence and submission, ought not to ne- 
glect that accomplishment which is by no means 
the least to add to her graces, health and safety. 
She should, when seated on the saddle, take hold 
on the horn, and by a shake, try if it is well 
girthed and steady; if not, have them tightened 
by some person present. 

As a particular knowledge of a horse's age is 
drawn from an acquaintance of his teeth, 1 must 
explain their situation and differences. 

Horses have forty teeth, which are divided, 
masticating, fore teeth and tusks. 

Mares seldom have tusks, if they have, they 
are very small. 

The masticating teeth are placed at the bottom 
of the mouth beyond the bars. They are twen- 
ty-four in number, to wit: twelve in the upper 
jaw, six on each side, and as many in the under 
jaw, placed in the same order. These teeth they 
never lose to make room for others, as the fore 
teeth do, and are not used to distinguish the 
horse's age. 

The fore teeth are twelve in number, to wit: 
six below, and six above. About a fortnight af- 
ter the colt's birth, they begin to grow, and are 



33 

called milk teeth; they are short and small, white 5 
and not hollow — they are dropped to make room 
for others that serve to discover the age. 

At two years and a half, four of them fall, in 
the room of which come the nippers, placed in 
the front of the mouth, two above and two below. 

At three years and a half, or thereabouts, four 
more fall, and those that come in their places are 
called mean teeth ; they are placed near the nip- 
pers, two above and two below. 

The nippers and mean teeth obtain their 
growth in a short time. At four years and a 
half they lose the last four milk teeth, which 
make room for others that are called corner 
teeth. When the corner teeth begin to grow, 
the tooth just appears above the gums, and grows 
slowly. There is a hollow in the tooth, which 
serves to distinguish the horse's age. 

The term marking, is derived from the black 
spot found in the corner teeth. 

Between five and six years of age, the hollow 
begins to fill up, and before he is six, the two 
lower front teeth become entirely smooth; be- 
tween six and seven, the two adjoining teeth, one 
on each side, become smooth, and the black spot 
decreases till he is seven and a half or eight 
years old, when it entirely disappears and leaves 



34 

a brown spot in its place; and before they are 
eight, the two corner teeth below become smooth, 
at which time all the natural marks of the lower 
front teeth disappear. 

There are horses that always mark, which pro- 
ceeds from the hardness of their teeth, which pre- 
vents the black mark from wearing out, and has 
been the means of many persons being imposed 
upon by jockeys, 

As it is not necessary that the horse should 
have the black mark, but must have a hollow in 
his teeth to distinguish his age, it is by that dif- 
ference that we discover a horse that is over eight, 
and one that always marks. 

When a horse quits marking, and his age can- 
not be discovered by the corner teeth, you must 
then have recourse to the tusks. 

The tusks are placed beyond the corner teeth 
on the bars, four in number, two above and two 
below, one on each side the mouth. 

The lower tusks begin to appear sometimes at 
three and a half, sometimes at four, and the up- 
per ones at four, and sometimes at four and a 
half years of age. At times they precede the 
corner teeth, and sometimes follow them. Until 
the age of six they are very sharp and fluted, 
that is, hollow in the interior of the mouth. Ma- 



35 

ny are sick while cutting their upper tusks, and 
are thus rendered incapable of great fatigue, 
which has caused many a fine young horse to be 
sacrificed through the ignorance of his master. 

By the time they arrive at the age of eight 
years, one of the two hollows or flutes in the 
tusk fills up; and at nine the other one is full, 
and the tusk becomes entirely round on the in- 
side. 

About ten, the upper tusks appear much worn, 
and as the gums also begin to shrink at that age, 
and the teeth become naked, they seem to length- 
en. 

When a horse marks neither by his teeth nor 
tusks, we must examine his brows, chin, and bars 
of the month. 

About thirteen or fourteen, we discover some- 
times white hairs in his brows; his chin begins 
to wrinkle, and drops as he gets older, and the 
bars become lean and small, the tongue large, 
and the upper front teeth project over the lower. 

The most convenient and certain method of 
distinguishing a young horse from an old one, is 
the following, which is recommended to the at- 
tention of inexperienced persons, viz: 

Turn back both his lips: if the teeth are small, 
white, glossy, and fit evenly together, he is 



3b 

young; if they are large, long, yellow, worn, 
dirty, and irregularly set, and the bars of his 
mouth lean and small, he is old. By these signs, 
you may discover the horses that always mark, 
or have been jockeyed, from those that are young. 
What is meant here by a jockeyed horse, is one 
whose teeth have been bored and burned to make 
him appear young; but however skilful a jockey 
may be in this operation, there always appears 
some scratches of the iron about the teeth, which 
may be discovered by minute examination. Those 
subtle jockeys have likewise the deceiving ad- 
dress of filing the tusks to make them sharp, but 
fortunately, they cannot lengthen them, and it is 
not sufficient that the tusks should be sharp and 
fluted to judge of the horse's youth — they must 
likewise be long, which they many times attempt 
by pressing down the gums with some kind of an 
instrument. 

Having given every necessary direction as re- 
lates to a discovery of the age of a horse, I 
shall proceed, in the next place, to point out 
many other things necessary to be observed and 
strictly attended to in the purchase of a horse. 



37 

DIRECTIONS TO PURCHASERS. 

To give directions for the purchase of a horse, 
free from disease or imperfection^ and to convey 
a correct knowledge of his age, is by experience 
found to be a more arduous and difficult task 
than is generally imagined, and I believe there is 
no kind of traffic wherein there are so many de- 
ceptions practised as in the sale of horses. 

As matters now stand, it is more easy to cheat 
a man out of one of those valuable animals, than 
out of a dollar in cash. It will not, therefore, 
be improper or unreasonable to give such direc- 
tions on the subject as will plainly point out to 
such as have been, or may hereafter be, the dupes 
of dealers and jockeys, whose business it is to 
impose on the credulity of the novice, by conceal- 
ing every imperfection in the animal, and disco- 
vering ail the good properties and imaginary 
beauties. 

Before you make choice of a horse, you should 
consider for what particular use you may want 
him, as some horses will answer for one purpose, 
and some another; some but one, and some none 
at all, while others may serve for many. 

When you have fixed on the horse you intend 
to purchase, have him brought before you in an 
open light place, but not near a white wall ; let 
4 



38 

him stand firm on all his feet. Place yourself at 
a distance of eight or ten feet in front of him, in 
a line with his breast. Observe well his counte- 
nance — it should be cheerful, sprightly, and not 
of a heavy, gloomy appearance; his ears thin, 
even, and terminate in a point; as a thick, droop- 
ing ear is not only a deformity, but the horse that 
wears them will be dull and sluggish. 

The face should be lean, and broad between 
the eyes, which should be round, clear, and not 
too large, move about their orbits with a quick 
and lively motion, and at the same time but lit- 
tle or none of the whites appear. On your ap- 
proaching him, if you can see your image deep 
and plain in every part, and he does not appear 
afraid of you, they may be supposed to be good: 
but, on the other hand, if they are yellow, moist, 
or sunk, and when examined the horse appears 
alarmed, and is on the doage, they are bad. 

The nostrils should not be so large as for the 
muzzle to become so wide on every little effort as 
to make the redness in the inside appear, as this 
is a true sign of a short, thick, and sometimes a 
broken wind, especially if there be much mois- 
ture on the inside of his nostrils. 



39 

The lips should meet well together, as the up- 
per lip, when it projects over the lower, denotes 
a horse to be sluggish. 

Having satisfied yourself thus far, cast your 
e} r es downwards to see if his breast is plump, 
full, and of a reasonable width; his fore legs 
straight, flat, sinewy and thin ; his arms large and 
muscular, so that upon any little strain or move- 
ment, the muscles thereof may be easily and 
clearly observed. 

The knees lean, sinewy, close, and evenly pro- 
portioned ; if they appear large, as if wind had 
collected between the skin and flesh, or looks 
bristly, feels scabby, or the hair knocked off, they 
are marks of a stumbler, and it is ten to one if 
he is fit for the saddle. 

The pasterns, straight and short, as horses with 
long pasterns never fail to tire on long journeys, 
although the horse that has them may be active 
and strong. 

I have known some very fleet and strong horses 
with long pasterns; in fact, they are generally 
the swiftest whose pasterns are rather long than 
otherwise; but, as before observed, they never 
perform well on long journeys. 

You will now tnk* 3 your stand at a convenient 
distance on the near side of the horse, and on a 



40 

line with his shoulder, in order to take a side view 
of him. Commencing again at his head, observe 
that there is no swelling where the head and neck 
join, or under the jaws; as the poll evil, common 
or colt distemper, &c. may be easily discovered 
by strict observation. 

His neck should taper well, forming a beauti- 
ful gradation from the breast and shoulders; his 
mane half the width of his neck, thin, and a lit- 
tle inclined to curl; his shoulders high, tapering, 
and thrown well back ; his back short, and not 
too much swayed for strength; his body rather 
round and swelling than flat, and of a propor- 
tionable size; his flanks plump and full, and the 
last rib approaching near the hips; his hips and 
buttocks full, round, and well covered with mus- 
cles; his tail well placed, and the bone stiff; long 
from the hip to the haunch bone ; his hocks broad, 
sinewy, bony, and clear of puffs; his thighs long, 
large and bulging; his hind legs, below the hocks, 
short, bending a little, flat and sinewy; his pas- 
terns of moderate length, small and bony; his 
hoofs cupped, round and smooth. 

It is as necessary to observe the hoofs in the 
purchase of a horse, as any other part, for they 
are the grand foundation of the whole animal; 
and if they are bad, the whole superstructure. 



4i 

however well and properly proportioned, cannot 
be of any intrinsic value. A flat ridgy hoof de- 
notes founders. If the hair on the top of the 
hoof lies smooth, close, and the flesh even there- 
with, it may be considered as sound and perfect; 
but if the hair on that part looks bristly, with 
scales or scabs on the skin, and the flesh rises 
over the hoof, they are the forerunners of scratch- 
es, quitter bones, or ring bones, and are brought 
on by founders, filthy stables, hard service, and 
neglect in cleaning and drying his legs after his 
day's service is ended. 

The bottoms of his feet should be carefully 
examined; they must be hollow, the frog large, 
spreading, and sound; the custom of trimming 
the frogs of the hoofs is injurious, and ought to 
be forever discontinued. By pressing your thumb 
hard on the frog, you may discover if it is spun- 
gy, decayed, or has a running, all of which are 
serious objections. Next take your stand about 
four paces behind the horse, as you may the more 
advantageously take a view of the different parts; 
his hips should be even, broad and round; his 
hocks and ancles of equal size, and not swelled. 

Be careful to see if there are no lumps on the 
inside bone of the hock joints, especially on the 
lower part, as such lumps are called the spavin, 
4* 



42 

and are among the worst of diseases. You ought 
also to see that no seams or scars appear; that he 
is not bow-legged, and that his fore legs show 
plainly by looking between the thighs; if he be 
a little cat-hamed, it is not a bad mark for a sad- 
dle horse, especially if you like a pacer. 

Advance round him to the off side, and exa- 
mine as you did the near. Having finished 
your examination, let him be rode in your pre- 
sence, from, to, and past you. When mounted, 
if he is wanting for the saddle, his appearance 
should be bold, lofty and majestic; his eye shin- 
ing with intrepidity and fire; his movements light 
and airy; his actions smooth and graceful. 

Have him rode past you two or three times in 
every gait he may have been broke to, to wit: 
iirst, a walk, then a trot, he. 

When trotting, the off fore and near hind leg, 
or the near fore and off hind leg, should move at 
one and the same time, and act in unison with each 
other. After you are satisfied with seeing him 
rode past you, have him rode to and from you in 
a direct line, to discover whether he lifts his feet 
well off the ground or not, and with boldness, at 
the same time carrying them straight and smooth- 
ly. A horse should not cross his fore legs in 
trotting, as it is a sign of weakness. 



43 

If a horse make a clattering noise in his gal- 
lop, he is badly broke, or there is something 
wrong in the formation of him: that is, if by 
treading too far, or making too much play with 
his hind legs, he strikes his fore shoe, it is said 
that he interferes — it proceeds from a natural im- 
perfection occasioned by uneven proportion; for, 
on a critical examination of such a horse, he wilt 
be found not only low in the shoulders, but that 
his hind legs are longer than his fore, which 
causes a weakness in the fore legs by forcing on 
them more than their due proportion of weight. 

To make yourself fully acquainted, you must 
now mount him yourself; and with a slack rein, 
in the most careless manner, and without whip or 
spur, ride at least a mile, and if practicable, up 
and down a hill, as any horse that can move 
clear and with ease down a hill, can do the same 
on any ground. 

As you return, put him up to at least three- 
quarter speed; this will enable you to try his 
wind, and moreover, make a discovery that can- 
not otherwise be conveniently done on such oc- 
casions: I mean a kind of spavin that is seated 
in the joint : 

This may be partially relieved by rest and 
good management, but not cured. To make this 



44 

discovery, and prevent being imposed upon, as 
soon as you return, let him be rode into water up 
to his belly; if there is not water convenient to 
ride him into, have him wetted, then let him stand 
until cold; while standing, notice that he is not 
a crib biter, and that he stands well on all his 
legs. Then let him be moved gently; if he is 
spavined, and has received a temporary cure, he 
will now show a lameness which could not other- 
wise have been discovered. 

Now slip off the bridle near some good ground 
for him to wallow, a thing he will be very apt to 
do if in* good health. 

If in wallowing he will turn entirely over, you 
need not dread any internal disease. Let him 
now be caught in your presence, and you will 
not only discover whether or not he is hard to 
take, but whether he can be easily bridled after 
being in hand. 

I have known horses that were perfectly gentle 
after being bridled, that could scarcely be bri- 
dled by the most expert groom, and from that 
quality alone, rendered worthless. 

Great regard ought to be paid to the qualities 
of a horse, it being universally acknowledged 
that habit is a second nature. 



45 

If you now think the horse you have been ex- 
amining and trying is likely to suit you, the next 
step necessary for you to take is to examine his 
mouth to ascertain his age, paying strict regard 
to the rules laid down in the preceding part of 
this treatise — not forgetting, when you open his 
mouth, to notice if there be any sign of the yel- 
low water. 

Some writers have undertaken to point out the 
beauties of fine horses down to their flesh marks, 
but as I consider it impossible for one man to 
choose beauty for another, and that there are 
good horses of all colors, I shall content myself 
with what I have already said on the subject, 
well knowing that volumes could not contain all 
that might justly be said of this noble animal, in 
speaking of his gay appearance, elegance of 
shape, due proportion of form, and gracefulness 
of action, which qualities, added to his great ser- 
vices, raise him far above the rest of the brute 
creation. 

Having finished my observations on what is 
necessary to be done before you purchase a horse, 
I proceed in the next place to point out what is 
necessary for his preservation, in order to secure 
hi> future services to the owner. 



CHAPTER II. 



OF THE DISEASES, AND THEIR SYMPTOMS. 
ANTICOR. 

The Anticor is the first disease of which 1 
shall treat. It appears to have derived its name 
from its proximity to the heart: it is brought on 
by various causes, such as high feeding and too 
little exercise, exposing the animal to the incle- 
mency of the weather, and letting him drink toe 
freely of cold w r ater after excessive fatigue. 

SYMPTOMS. 

Loss of appetite is one of the first symptoms 
of this disease; the next is a difficulty of swal- 
lowing water, and the great pain that it occa- 
sions; one or two swallows will produce so much 
pain as to cause him to groan, and sometimes 
stagger; he will seldom attempt to drink a se- 
cond time. When the disease becomes serious, 
he seldom, if ever, attempts to lie down, as the 
pain is more acute in hat posture than standing. 
As the pain grows more violent, he becomes 



48 



weary and restless. About the second or third 
day the breast begins to swell, and frequently ex- 
tends as far back as the sheath. 



CURE. 



Copious bleeding is the first and most effectual 
remedy against this complaint. From two to 
four quarts, according to the size and condition 
of the horse, and the violence of the disease, may 
be taken twice or thrice a week. Cooling me- 
dicine, such as spicewood tea, nitre, and flaxseed 
powdered, mixed with his food, will be of service. 
He should every night lake a half ounce of sul- 
phur, and one ounce of liquorice, in a ball or 
drench. 

Clysters of oil and salts must be used to keep 
his bowels moderately open. I will remark, that 
the use of injections, although strenuously re- 
commended, is of little service, unless the horse 
be previously prepared for it by proper raking. 
Some one who has small hands, may perform this 
operation with convenience. 

The hand should be greased before its inser- 
tion into the fundament for the purpose of with- 
drawing the ordine. If an abscess should al- 
ready have been formed, and was such as to re- 
quire separating, a poultice of boiled oats, or 



49 

wheat bran, scalded in a sufficient quantity of wa- 
ter to moisten it, and some lard to keep it soft ? 
must be applied to the swelled part, as warm as 
it can be borne conveniently, and continued until 
it be brought to a head: after which, an incision 
must be made sufficient for the free discharge of 
the matter. 

If from the commencement of the swelling, it 
be frequently bathed in a decoction of bitter herbs, 
it may sometimes have the happy effect of pre- 
venting its further progress. 

After opening, the sore must be repeatedly 
washed with good old soap, and water, and salt 
and water alternately. 

OINTMENT FOR THE SAME. 

Take of beeswax about the size of a hen's egg, 
one table-spoon full of the spirits of turpentine, 
or as much white turpentine as you have wax, 
and half the quantity of hogs' lard : melt this, 
and add about one ounce of verdigris thereto • 
mix the whole together in some clean vessel 
(earthen is best,) over a moderate fire. Without 
great care after adding the verdigris, it will boil 
over. A little of the flowers, or tops of elders, 
may be added to advantage; strain and bottle it 
for use. This ointment is serviceable, not only 
5 



50 



for this ulcer, but for many other sores to which 
horses are subject. 



ABSCESSES* 
These are swellings that make their appear- 
ance on many parts of the animal, and may some- 
times be removed by the application of strong 
salt and water, vinegar and salt, or a decoction 
of bitter herbs, and blood letting, If this should 
fail, apply the spirits of turpentine, which, after 
one or two applications, will prepare them for in- 
cision, or reduce them. Proceed then as direct- 
ed in the case Anticor. 



APOPLEXY. 

Apoplexy proceeds from too great an accu 
mulation of blood about the brain, and is known 
by the animal's falling suddenly to the ground. 
When the paroxysm is a little abated, he will reel 
or stagger, and sometimes fall. From this cir- 
cumstance, many call it the staggers. His eyes 
inflame and become watery, and he fails in appe- 
tite. These are the natural and ordinary symp- 
toms of this disease. 



61 

CURE. 

Speedy and copious bleeding must by no 
means be neglected. A bran wash must be given 
warm twice a day, with about half an ounce of 
asafcetida, and a pod of red pepper added there-? 
to. The food must be of a cooling nature* 
Bathe his feet and legs in warm water; and every 
thing else that has a tendency to lessen the force 
of the circulation of the blood towards the head, 
will be of great service. 



BAD APPETITE. 

Horses lose their appetite from various causes, 
viz: want of change in food, want of exercise, dirty 
and unsound food, &c, and is frequently the 
forerunner of many serious diseases. 

CURE. 
Draw two or three quarts of blood from the 
neck vein; take a quarter of an ounce of asa- 
fcetida, a table-spoon full of salt, and mix them 
with one quart of sassafras tea, and give it as a 
drench. On the second day, dissolve one pound 
of salts in a quart of warm water, and give it as 
above. If the appetite be not restored in two or 



62 

three days, you may conclude that the animal la 
bours under some disease, which you should en- 
deavor to ascertain by the symptoms. 



BARBS. 

Barbs are little excrescences resembling blad- 
ders, which make their appearance at the lower 
part of the palate of the mouth, about an inch or 
an inch and a half above the corner teeth, and 
can only be discovered by drawing the tougue to 
one side. These, if suffered to remain long, will 
so much interfere with his feeding and drinking, 
as to become of serious disadvantage. 

CURE. 
Clip them off as close as possible, and wash 
the sores with a sponge, or linen rag, dipped in 
strong salt and vinegar, two or three times a day. 
Bran and other soft food, would be proper during 
the continuance of the soreness. 



BIG SHOULDER. 

There are so few persons acquainted with this 
disease, that it is frequently mistaken for the 



53 

chest founder. It is considered by the best judges 
to be the most fatal disease of those that are not 
considered infectious; and although many of our 
valuable horses have irretrievably been lost by it, 
it appears that a large majority of our country- 
men are utterly unacquainted with it. 

SYMPTOMS. 

This fatal disease is first discovered by the 
horse's standing over more ground than usual, 
and stretching his feet forward. After continu- 
ing this practice for some time, the lower points 
of his shoulders begin to grow, and continue so 
to increase until they project forward to a great 
extent. As the shoulders grow larger, the breast 
shrinks away till it becomes quite hollow, and that 
round, plump and muscular appearance at last 
disappears. It is attended with great stiffness 
and excruciating pain. The horse seldom loses 
his appetite, and I have known some to perform 
well for many years after being attacked by it, 
from good treatment and attention, although the 
horse could not be cured. 

CAUSE. 

Various are the opinions of the best judges as 
to the causes of this disease; some persons in the 
5* 



54 

southwestern States, where it is more common 
than elsewhere, attribute it to the food. I differ 
from them in opinion: for I never knew a horse 
tfl have this disease that had not been worked 
hard, or rode by heavy persons. 

But most commonly, so far as it has come 
within my knowledge, it appears to have origi- j 
nated from horses working at the wheels of car- I 
riages, and from the draught bearing too low on 
the points of the shoulders. 

CURE. 

Bleeding, rest find rowelling, is indispensable 

in the cure of this disease. It is better to lose ! 

six months' labor, than to rear or buy a horse. ' 
Copious bleeding the first month* rubbing and 

bathing twice or thrice a week for six months, as | 

hereafter directed; and rowelling, or the use of I 

fire, the same length of time, together with let- I 

ting him run at large in a good grass lot, and j 

other good treatment, especially rubbing, will | 
seldom, if ever, fail to perfect a cure. 

A BATH. 

Take of the spirits of turpentine alone, and 
bathe the shoulders and breast well every other 
day for one week : after which make an oil, by 



55 

stewing two hands full of red worms in a pound 
of fresh butter, and mix therewith an equal quan- 
tity (after being strained,) of the spirits of tur- 
pentine. With this mixture, bathe and rub the 
parts until warm, three times a week, until the 
animal is cured. 

His food should be cooling, and easy of diges- 
tion. 



BLOOD SPAVIN. 
The Blood Spavin is known by a soft swelling 
on the inside of a horse's hock joint; but the 
master vein is not, as is generally .supposed, ap- 
pealed thereby. It occasions a horse to move 
exceedingly stiff, and when appealed in both legs 
he appears as if he had been hurt in the loins. 
If one leg only is diseased, it is sure to make 
him go lame, as he cannot bring up the leg, or 
make as long a step with it as he otherwise 
would. 



CURE. 
Shave the hair from off the swelled part, and 
apply a blister plaster large enough to cover the 
swelling; after this is done running, repeat it 



56 

again, if necessary, and cause each of them to 
run as long as you can. Two blisters are suffi- 
cient, if they run well. After the last one is cured 
up. wet the place with spirits of turpentine once 
a week for three weeks; rub him often, and let 
him run at large in a place where he can lie down 
and take his rest. After you have done with the 
turpentine, anoint the parts twice a week for three 
months, with an oil made of two hands full of red 
worms stewed in a pint of cream, or fresh butter. 
This, with six months' rest, will effect a cure, al- 
though many think the disease incurable. It cer- 
tainly is much better to lose the use* of a horse 
six months, than to raise or buy one. 



BONE SPAVIN. 

The Bone Spavin is known by a swelling or 
knot on the inside of a horse's hock, just below 
the joint, and a little below where the blood spa- I 
vin makes its appearance: it should be treated | 
precisely in the same manner as the blood spavin; 
only, the use of the turpentine may be continued 
ionger. Rub the place often, and never, in any f 
kind of spavin or founder, let your horse be con- 
fined in a stablec 



57 

BLIND SPAVIN. 

The Blind Spavin is seated in the joint, and 
there is no visible appearance by which it can be 
seen or known, except the lameness which it oc- 
casions. It may be discovered in the following 
way, when a horse has had a temporary relief 
from rest, blistering, bathing, &c, without giving 
time for it to become round, and for the purpose 
of imposing on the purchaser: 

Have him rode about three-quarter speed for 
one mile, and back, occasionally fretting, crack- 
ing, and drawing him up suddenly and short; 
after which, let him be rode in water to the belly, 
or, if this is not convenient, wash his legs in cold 
water, and let him stand uninterrupted for about 
half an hour, or until he gets perfectly cool : then 
have him moved gently, and if he has received a 
temporary cure, he will shew a lameness. Mr. 
Mason says, a blister drawn on the part affected, 
with a bath of strong spirits or vinegar, and a 
week's rest, will frequently suspend the lameness 
produced by the spavin, for a time; but a radical 
cure cannot be expected. For my own part, I 
firmly believe, and do know, that a cure can be 
made, and his acknowledging a temporary relief 
in so short a time, and in so simple a way, is a 
proof of my assertion 



58 



WORMS. 

Horses are liable to be infested with three dif- 
ferent kinds of worms, which are distinguished 
among Farriers by the names of Bots, Trun- 
cheons or Grubs, and Maw Worms. Of these, | 
experience has taught me that the Truncheons or i 
Grubs, are the most dangerous. Although thou- 
sands of those nobie animals have been destroyed 
by these insects, I am convinced, from thirty 
years' practice, that all the danger arises from 
want of experience, or from want of attention. 
I have been the owner of horses for thirty years, 
and for the most part of that time have had ; 
teems, always saddle horses, and sometimes stal- | 
lions and race horses, and never lost one by those 
insects, nor with any other disease: although ful- i 
]y convinced that I should have lost many, if I 
had acted as the most of my neighbors and others 
wfio were losing every year. 

The Grubs are short thick worms, with black- j 
ish colored heads, and are principally confined to 
Che maw, where, if they are suffered to remain | 
long, will eat their way through. If horses were ' 
strictly attended to, the insects might be disco- 
vered as soon as they fasten to the maw, and the i 
animal might at that time be easily saved. 



5& 

Whereas, if they continue there until the horse 
appears to be in extreme pain, neither art nor 
medicine can in the least affect them, and nine 
times out often the horse would die, (though they 
could all be killed at the first appearance of 
those symptoms,) the maw being eaten through. 
If they are rightlj' managed from the time the 
attack is first made, as before observed, a cure 
may be effected. 

SYMPTOMS, 

When you see your horse occasionally stamp 
with his fore feet when not troubled with flies, 
and frequently appear as though he attempted to 
strike his belly with his hind feet, you may ex- 
pect that the maw is attacked ; as they progress, 
the symptoms increase; he will frequently turn 
his head to his sides, and sometimes groan, and 
as the pain increases, he will at times quit his 
food, drop down on his side suddenly, rise up 
again and return to his food. These symptoms 
may be discovered several days before his appe- 
tite leaves him and he becomes entirely restless. 

CURE. 
On the first appearance of the symptoms, bleed 
him in the mouth, and give him salt to lick; by 



66 

this means you will get Lim to swallow the blood. 
If the heads of the insects are not too deeply | 
buried, so as to prevent them from tasting or 
smelling the blood, they will be induced to aban- 
don their hold, as nothing in the world appears b 
to be more fond of blood and salt than they are. \ 
A drench of beef's blood and salt, is said to be 
better than the blood of the horse. If this should \ 
give ease, a half pint of tar, or spirits of turpen- jl 
tine, may be given, and in half an hour after- 
wards, a pint of linseed oil. 

The spirits of turpentine is the only medicine 
I have ever found to have any impression on 
them after the} 7 attach themselves to the maw. ) 
The Grubs and Bots are found, on strict exami- 
nation, to be extremely porous, consequently, the \ 
sudden and powerful effect of this medicine on |i 
them by external application, is not to be won- \ 
dered at. When the Grubs have gathered in \ 
knots in the upper part of the maw, and above, 
so as to endanger the horse's life by choking » 
him, a half pint of the spirits of turpentine will 
relieve him almost instantaneously; so soon as [ 
the turpentine touches them, they become rest- | 
less, and are in constant motion until dispersed, & 
which occasions the horse to cough incessantly f 
until the throat is entirely cleared of these insects, t 



m 

The most strict attention should at all times 
be paid to the carrying- them off after they have 
been loosened. For this purpose give one pint 
of linseed oil; if the oil cannot be had, one quart 
of molasses, and one quart of new milk, must be 
given in its stead, blood warm; a pint of pow- 
dered flaxseed may be given to advantage once 
a day for three days in succession, after the mo- 
lasses has been used. 

The food should be green wheat, clover, or 
some good grass; if this cannot be had, good 
hay or fodder, wetted with weak salt and water, 
and in both cases, about one quart of meal given 
in water five or six times a day; one quart of the 
tea of slippery elm might be given to advantage 
once a day. » The Bots resemble the Grubs so 
nearly, that but few know the difference, or can 
draw the distinction between them; they area 
small worm with a large head, and are confined 
principally to the great gut near the fundament, 
and are often seen dropped with the dung. 

The same remedy that is used for the Grubs, 
will have the desired effect on the Bots. 

Be it remembered, that if you will at all times 

keep the nits scraped clean off your horse, (not 

[scrape him where he feeds, least he eat them,) 

J and give him salt regularly three times a week, 

6 



62 

it will save greatly in his keeping", and render 
him perfectly secure from those insects. 



MAW WORMS. 

These insects are of a pale red color, resem- 
bling earth worms, and when grown, are from 
one to two inches long. They are confined prhir 
cipally to the maw, from whence they derive 
their name, and may be destroyed by the same 
medicine, and in the same way that Bots and 
Truncheons are. Horses subject to this kind of 
worms, as all young horses are more or less, 
should have hickory ashes kept in their trough, 
or let run where there are tobacco suckers frost- 
bitten and dried, or have tobacco frequently 
crumbled in small quantities over their food. 



BLOODY FLUX. 

This disease makes its appearance so seldom 
in this country, as not to deserve a place here, 
were it not for the great danger and obstinacy 
attending it when it does attack. It is known by 
a discharge from what is called the gall ducts, 






63 

through the fundament, of a slimy, and to all 
appearance, a kind of bilious matter mixed with 
blood, and not unlike some of the discharges 
from a man in an extremely bad flux. 

CURE. 

As the inflammation is always considerable in 
this disease, as soon as it is discovered the ani- 
mal should be bled according to his strength, but 
not after the first week. This disease, like all 
others of the same nature, originate in the sto- 
mach; for the cure of which give the following 
drink: Take one hand full of camomile flowers, 
or Virginia snake root, half the quantity of dog- 
wood or poplar root bark, two ounces of cedar 
or juniper berries, and a table-spoon full of ipc- 
cacuana, or half a handful of the root of Indian 
physic, and a table-spoon full of rhubarb: add 
thereto three pints of boiling water; after it lias 
become cool enough give it as a drench, and re- 
peat it every other day, or every day, if neces- 
sary. The food should be easy of digestion, and 
nourishing. After raking him properly, give him 
the following injection: 

Take two hands full of red roses, four ounces 
of red oak bark, and add thereto one quart of 
strong mint tea, boiling hot; when blood warm, 
strain and give it as directed in page 78. 



64 

BROKEN WIND. 

Broken Wind is one amongst the incurabk 
diseases to which the horse is subject. The cause 
is so obvious as to require no remarks; and as 
it is incurable, shall only describe the symptoms, 
and endeavour to prescribe such medicine and 
treatment as may enable him to be of some ser- 
vice to the person who may be so unfortunate as 
to own such an animal. 

SYMPTOMS. 

By giving him brisk exercise, you will disco- 
ver an irregular and quick motion of the flanks, 
wide nostrils, difficulty of breathing, and a disa- 
greeable wheezing noise. 

The seat of this disease appears, from dissec- 
tion, to be in the lungs — the heart and lungs be- 
ing found to be twice their natural size, which 
prevents their performing their office with ease in 
the action of respiration, 

TREATMENT. 

Take an ounce of asafcetida, one ounce of ele- 
campaign, one ounce of colt's foot, and two ta- 
ble-spoons full of linseed oil: make them into a 
ball, or mix them with warm water, and give it 
occasionally morning and evening. Nourishing 



65 

food given in small quantities, and often, and the 
same regard paid to his drink, will enable him to 
render some service. Nothing dry should be 
given him, but all his food sprinkled before he. 
eats it. 



BUFFALO FLY, 

The Buffalo Fly has never made its appear- 
ance in this State, or if it has, it has never come 
within my knowledge ; but it seems its effects are 
more serious and fatal among the horses of the 
District of Tennessee, aiid some other parts of the 
southwestern States, than could have been ima- 
gined. No insect that ever made its appearance 
in these countries, has done so much injury in so 
short a time. 

The injury occasioned by them appears to 
arise from the depositing their eggs in the nos- 
trils, ears, and sheaths of horses, which, in a few 
hours after, produces an inflammation that termi- 
nates in the death of the animal. As 1 have ne- 

! ver seen the insect, or its effects, I feel at a loss 

! 

j to prescribe; but it seems to me that laudanum 

| alone will expel such insects, and I am confident 

j that if the parts which these insects attack were 

6* 



66 

greased three or four times a week with the oint- 
ment directed in page 49, about the time they 
make their appearance, or during their continu- 
ance in the neighbourhood, that no insect what- 
ever would deposite an egg in them while either 
the scent or taste remained. I would therefore 
recommend all persons to try this medicine, or 
any other that may be recommended, till they can 
ascertain what may be relied on in this extraor- 
dinary disease. 



BIG H5AD. 

The Big Head made its appearance in this 
State about the year 1796 or 1797, and for some 
time was fatal in its consequences; but for the 
last ten or fifteen years it seems to have done but 
little injury. 

Whether this is owing to a knowledge of the 
management of the disease, or whether it has 
become less frequent, I cannot tell; it seems to 
be a nervous affection, although the cure is easy. 

SYMPTOMS. 
This disease first makes its appearance by a 
swelling of the head between the eyes and nos- 

I 



67 

trils, sometimes on one side only, and at other 
times on both; at first, a lump appears on the 
side of the upper jaw, and seems as if the bone 
had been affected by a stroke; the bone com- 
mences growing rapidly at this place, and conti- 
nues to spread over the other parts of the jaws 
and sides of the head until it puts an end to his 
existence if not stopped by medicine. 

The horse becomes stiff and useless by de- 
grees, more especially in his hind legs, which he 
will in a short time be unable to lift over a single 
rail 

CURE. 
The cure for this disease is both simple and 
easy : first bleed him in the neck, (once is suffi- 
cient,) then bathe the swollen part in spirits of 
turpentine about once a week till you discover 
that the growing is stopped. The lumps always 
remain, but as the} 7 cease to grow, the horse's 
activity returns. 



CROWN SCAB. 
The Crown Scab is only a species of the 
scratches, and is brought on in the same way, to 
wit: by founders, filthy stables, Sic. 



63 

SYMPTOMS. 

This disease is known by the breaking of a 
filthy sore on the top of the hoof, which oozes 
out a thin fetid matter that destroys the hair about 
it, and occasions a whitish kind of scab over the 
affected part. 

CURE. 

Cleanse the parts by washing them with strong 
soapsuds, and scraping; after drying, apply the 
spirits of turpentine in sufficient quantities to wet 
the place effectually; about the second day wet 
it again with spirits of turpentine, and from the 
fourth day wash them daily with the greasiest 
liquor you can get out of a pot wherein bacon 
and greens have been boiled, and as hot as your 
h;;nd can bear it. The salt, grease, and vegeta- 
ble substance contained therein, will complete 
the cure, provided the horse be kept nice and 
dry. 



COLDS. 
Colds are not more common among the humac 
family than among horses. They are frequently 
produced by negligence after hard usage. From 



v9 

want of a little labour in rubbing, and a good 
stable, many horses have been greatly injured, 
and some lost. 

Any thing that has a tendency to relieve per- 
sons with colds, will have the same effect oh 
horses. 

CURE. 

Copious bleeding is the best remedy in this 
disease, and never fails to effect a cure if good 
treatment be added to it — though a little nitre 
may be used to advantage, if the animal has a 
fever or a cough. 



CONSUMPTION. 

This disease is known by a discbarge of thin 
matter from the nose of the horse, a cough, and 
slight fever: but as the disease gains ground, all 
the symptoms increase ; the matter becomes of a 
more malignant quality, and resembles the glan- 
ders so much as to render it extremely difficult 
to distinguish one from the other, and can only 
be done by the glands discharging itself mostly 
from one nostril,. 



70 

CURE. 
After the disease has seated itself, a cure ought 
not to be calculated on ; however, before it changes 
its appearance, and only the first mild symptoms 
appear, the mercurial salivation and other treat- 
ment, as recommended in the glanders, is worthy 
of a trial. 



CONVULSIONS. 

Convulsions proceed from various causes, and 
not unfrequently by worms fastening in the intes- 
tinum rectum, or straight gut, when the horse 
has lived long on grass, and then stabled and fed 
high on grain, without first cleansing the intes- 
tines by gentle purges. Young horses are much 
more liable to this disease than old ones. 

SYMPTOMS. 

This disease is known by the horse's suddenly 
raising his head higher than usual; pricking up 
his ears ; an entire stiffness of the neck ; tightness 
of the skin, and the straddling posture in which 
he stands. At every attempt to walk, he will al- 
most fall, pant and breathe with difficulty. This 
disease has often been taken for the staggers, al- 



71 

though different in every respect except his move- 
ments. 

CURE. 

Bleeding copiously must not be neglected, and 
the quantity of blood ought to be regulated by 
the strength and condition of the horse. The 
worm destroying medicine prescribed in page 59, 
may always be used with safety, and generally to 
advantage, as the disease generally proceeds from 
worms. 

Give one-fourth of an ounce of rhubarb, half 
an ounce of aloes, and about one-fourth of an 
ounce of cream of tartar, and repeat it often 
enough to keep his bowels open, after- giving an 
injection of ambia. 

OINTMEMT. 

Take half a pint of hog's lard, two table-spoons 
full of spirits of turpentine, and half a pint of 
salad oil; simmer them over a fire, and stir them 
till they are well mixed, then add one ounce of 
camphorated spirits, and with this mixture as hot 
as you can bear your hand in, bathe the contract- 
ed parts. 



n 

CHEST FOUNDER. 
The Chest Founder appears to be one of those 
dreadful diseases to which horses are subject, and 
which admits of no cure. It is true, that farriers 
speak of it as of other founders, and prescribe 
remedies which they say will give immediate re* 
lief; but experience has proved, beyond the pos- 
sibility of a doubt, that they are, at least in part, 
mistaken. I acknowledge that there is no rule 
without some exception, and that there are con- 
stitutions that can bear almost any thing; on this 
account I would recommend to those who are so 
unfortunate as to have such horses, to use every 
exertion, as some cures have sometimes been ef- 
fected ; at least, a horse of good constitution may 
obtain a partial relief. 

SYMPTOMS. 

This founder may be easily distinguished fron* 
any other by the manner in which the horse 
stands, and its affecting only the fore legs, except 
when the attack is so violent as to affect every 
part, as is sometimes the case. He will stand 
with his fore feet twelve or eighteen inches apart; 
is remarkably stiff in the fore legs ; breathes bad- 
ly, and has a continual uneasiness in the chest, 
which is occasioned by the disease being seated 



to 

in the lungs. On dissection* it is found that the 
heart and liver are considerably enlarged, so 
much so that they have not room to perform their 
ordinary functions. The liver, lungs, and sur- 
rounding parts, are all covered with large brown 
spots, and are considerably inflamed, 

CURE. 

If a cure can be made, it is by bleeding im- 
mediately, and repeating it every other day for 
a week, taking at each time as much blood as 
you think he can bear; keep his bowels open by 
giving a pound of salts every third, and a dose 
of senna every second day. His drink should 
be spicewood, sassafras, flaxseed and elm tea, 
with small quantities of nitre added occasionally; 
his food nourishing, and in small quantities. Rest 
is indispensable in this case. 



CORNS. 
This disease is not very common; but as it 
sometimes happens by bad shoeing, it may not 
be amiss to mention what it is, and how it may 
be cured. They are known by lumps making 
their appearance inside of the heel, and which, 
7 



34 



when su tiered to remain, become painful when 
pressed by the shoe or otherwise. 



CURE. 



Cut them off as close as possible with a sharp 
knife, and bathe them with spirits of turpentine: 
two or three times is sufficient. 



COUGH. 

If your horse has a cough, take a reasonable 
portion of blood from the neck vein about twice 
in the course of the first week, and give him eve- 
ry night half an ounce of nitre, half an ounce of 
the cream of tartar, and half an ounce of liquo- 
rice, and keep him dry and warm. 



CHOKED. 
(Substances stopping between the mouth and 
rUomach.) Accidents of this kind are extremely 
dangerous' and very common, on account of the 
want of attention in feeding — for I never knew a 
horse to be choked in any other way but by piling 
the food before him when very hungry; in which 



75 

case, it should always be given at first in small 
quantities, and that wet. When this accident hap- 
pens, we should endeavor to extract the obstruct- 
ing body, if large enough, by pressing the thumb 
and finger on each side of the oozen, and slip- 
ping it up; if this cannot be effected, then endea- 
vor to press it down so as to force it into the sto- 
mach : but if you should fail in these attempts, 
recourse must be had to swimming, in which act 
you will discover every nerve and muscle in him 
put in motion; the parts so contracted, and the 
motion, will have a tendency to force every thing 
that may be lodged in the way, upwards. 1 have 
known, in extreme cases, substances forced down 
by fastening a sponge or a soft mop, to the end 
of a smooth limber stick, or a piece of lead made 
long for that purpose. 



CURB. 

This disease is known by a swelling of the 
great sinew below the hock, and extending down- 
wards. Great stiffness, and sometimes lameness, 
is occasioned thereby. 



76 
CURE. 
Draw a line down the middle of the curb; and 
afterwards apply the blistering ointment, giving 
him rest. 



CRACKED HEELS. 
The Cracked Heels are cured first by poul- 
ticing the parts with roasted turnips, cow manure 
or bran and lard, mixed. After poulticing suffi- 
ciently, anoint the crown of the hoofs and heels 
with tar and tallow, or spirits of turpentine and 
tallow when quite warm, every day or two until 
well 



cholic. \ 

Man is subject to several different kinds of j 1 
c holies, such a flatulent, bilious, nervous, he. &c« 
Among horses, it appears to be confined to the 
flatulent and nervous alone, more especially the 
former. It is a disease to which the horse is very 
subject, and often proves fatal in consequence of 
improper treatment. The causes are various: as 
improper feeding, watering or riding, or the warn 



77 

of energy in the stomach and bowels, which oc- 
casions a spasmodic construction of the intestines 
and a confinement of air. 

Sometimes the pangs of the cholic appear so 
excruciating, and the symptoms so violent, as to 
alarm generally those who are unaccustomed to 
it, and cause them to be apprehensive of danger- 
ous consequences; but by using proper remedies 
the cure will be made easy, and the animal spee- 
dily relieved from his painful situation. 

SY3IPTOMS. 

Great restlessness and uneasiness, 'frequently 
pawing, often looking round at his sides, voiding 
small quantities of excrement, g/oaus, lies down, 
rolls, gets up again, and sometimes for a moment 
appears to find relief; but the pain returns with 
double violence, his ears are cold, the roof of his 
mouth is pale, and he often sweats about the 
flanks and shoulde/s. 

CURE. 

Take from the neck three quarts of blood : 
i t l 

j take an ounce of laudanum and one pint of good 

i spirits, (apple brandy is best,) or if the laudanum 

! cannot be had, a gill and a half of the spirits of 

| turpentine may be used in its place, 

7* 



78 

Or, take a quarter of an ounce of camphor, a 
gill of the spirits of turpentine, mix them in a 
quart of mint tea and give it as a drench. In 
either case, an injection is necessary to insure re- 
lief, and should be made of two table-spoons full 
of the spirits of turpentine, half a pint of oil, 
and one quart of weak ambier, given warm. 

Put the horse into the stable, cover him well, 
and place under him two large tubs of boiling 
water, with bitter herbs in it: this will make him 
>weat profusely, and relieve the pain. 






CRIB BITING. 

('rib Biting is perhaps the worst practice that 
is brought on a horse by habit, and is very ugly, 
disagreeable to the owner, and more injurious to 
the horse than any other habit. 

It consists of his catching hold of the manger 
or any other hard substance within his reach, 
grunting, and sucking wind until he is perfectly 
full. To discover this abominable practice, it is 
only necessary to lie him near a fence or any 
other place where he can conveniently reach and 
bite. Whenever this habit is acquired, it is prac- 
tised as long as the animal lives: but I cannot 



79 * 

agree with Mr. Mason, when he says, "many ex- 
periments and fruitless attempts have been made 
to remedy it, but without success, and the most 
elegant horse, when lie once becomes a crib biter, 
is reduced in value to little or nothing; he al- 
ways looks hollow, jaded, and delicate; is inca- 
pable of rendering service in any situation." 

As before observed, I agree that the habit is 
never left off entirely — but I know, that by fas- 
tening a broad collar around the neck, as tight 
as possible, so as not to occasion uneasiness, it 
will prevent them in a great measure from suck- 
ing, as it prevents the neck from swelling, bend- 
ing, or expanding, as it otherwise would do; this 
method occasions an uneasiness when biting and 
sucking, and causes the practice in a great mea- 
sure to be discontinued. By adopting this rule, 
I have known many horses to be made fat, and 
perform well. 



DROPSY. 



The Dropsy is a preternatural swelling of the 
whole body, occasioned by a collection of watery 
humour by reason of the very thin and impover- 
ished state of the blood. It may be brought on 



80 

by various kinds of bad treatment, or bad ma- 
nagement. 

Injudicious bleeding and purging beyond the 
strength of the animal, is very likely to terminate 
in a dropsy. 

SYMPTOMS. 

The symptoms are a soft, cold, watery feeling, 
so that if you press your lingers against the skin, 
the print will remain for several minutes; the 
hair becomes rough, which invariably changes* 
its colour, as from bay to dun, from black to the 
colour of rusty iron, &c. 

Shedding the hair in spots, the urine thin and 
of a whitish colour, want of appetite, and a dif- 
iicultv in breathing, are all symptoms of this 
disease. 

i 
CURE. 

Although this disease is often brought on by 
purging, yet in order to effect a cure, it is neces- 
sary to cleanse the stomach and intestines by giv- ' 
ing the following gentle purge: — Gamboge and 
precipitated sulphur of antimony, of each one- I 
eighth of an ounce; aloes, half an ounce; rhu- 
barb, one-sixteenth of an ounce; gum guiacum, 
half an ounce, and a small quantity of ground j 



81 

ginger, given in three half pints of warm water, 
or what is much better, ale or cider, every other 
day for two weeks. In the intermediate days, 
give him three-fourths of an ounce of antimony 
in a pint of warm ale or flaxseed tea; and about 
the third week give one or two sweats, say one 
quart of strong Virginia snake root tea, one- 
fourth of an ounce of camphor, and a small quan- 
tity of the spirits of hartshorn; keep him dry and 
warm, and feed him on solid, wholesome diet in 
small quantities, moist and warm. 



DIABETES. 

The diabetes is a frequent and excessive dis~ 
charge of urine, which often exceeds in quantity 
all the liquid food the animal takes; it is attend- 
ed with great weakness, loss of appetite and 
flesh, with every appearance of decay and ap- 
proaching dissolution. 

It is frequently the result of old disorders, ex- 
cessive fatigue, he. 

A horse of a weak constitution is extremely 
difficult to cure: but if his constitution is good, 
and the following remedies are applied when the 
disease first makes its appearance, the cure, by 
proper attention, may be rendered almost certain. 



82 



TREATMENT. 



Take of opium, one drachm; asafoetida, two 
drachms; powdered ginger, two drachms; red 
oak bark powdered, one ounce; syrup of any 
kind sufficient to make it into balls, and give it 
for one dose; repeat this three times a week. 
The horse must not be permitted to drink as 
much water as usual, and what he drinks should 
have a small portion of salt thrown into it. 

Or, if a drench should be preferred, take one 
pint of port wine, one pint of water, and one ounce 
of gum arabic; mix and give it as a drench three 
times a week till you find that the disease abates, 
then only as often as you may find it necessary. 

Nourishing food, moderate exercise, and clean 
dry stables, will assist much in effecting a cure. 



EYES. 
Every one knows that the eye is the most sen- 
sible external member of the body, and should 
always undergo an examination by the purchaser 
with the greatest attention and minuteness. No- 
thing can more affect the value of the horse than 
the want of vision, which at once proves the neces- 
sity of using the greatest caution on this subject 



83 

In the preceding part of this treatise, I have 
pointed out what is considered a good eye, and 
as it would be too tedious to give a full descrip- 
tion of the anatomy of a horse's eye, the reader 
must be contented with a description of those 
parts and those diseases most familiar and impor- 
tant. The gutta serena, moon eye, weak and 
watery eye, kc. will be treated of separately in 
the following pages. 

Nature has been as bountiful to those creatures 
as to man, in bestowing the same shield which 
their eyelids afford to protect this tender member 
from any inconvenience which might arise from 
dust, blows, or noxious insects. It is well known 
that the finest powder blown into the eye would 
cause the most excruciating pain that could pos- 
sibly be imagined, for which reason I would cau- 
tion all persons against the abominable practice 
of blowing composition of powdered glass and 
slate, he. into the eye, which never fails to in- 
flame instead of cooling and strengthening that 
member. 



MOON EYES. 
There is a periodical disease which we may 
observe in horses that attacks the eyes about 



&4 

once in every four weeks, and is commonly call- 
ed moon eyes, from the prevailing opinion that 
the affection increases or decreases with the 
course of the moon, as the eyes change their co- 
lour and vary in appearance monthly. Eyes , 
thus affected, at times appear muddy, watery and j 
dull, and at other times clear and good. When 
at the worst, the veins near the eyes and temples 
appear full, and generally one eye is much more 
affected than the other : therefore, it seems best 
to apply a remedy to the strong eye, and suffer 
the sight of the other to be lost as speedily as | 
possible, as one never fails, from good manage- 
went, to become good on losing the other. 

CURE. 
Copious bleeding, and bathing the eyes in cold 
spring water, gives temporary relief. The eyes 
of a horse that are wounded or injured by blows, 
flies, and other accidents, can always be distill- | 
guished from diseased eyes by a proper examina- I 
tion. When the eye is so inflamed as to close 
up, and appears too tender to bear any thing 
strong, use cold spring water as above directed. ! 
So soon as it will justify the use of medicine, 
which is commonly when it opens of its own ac- 
cord, use the following 



EYE WATER. 

To one pint of clear spring water, add three 
drachms of the sugar of lead and two of white 
vitriol, and apply one or two drops to each eye, 
morning, noon and night, with a feather or linen 
rag. Tar water is an excellent remedy for sore 
eyes. 

If a film is observed to grow over the eye s 
which must be the case before it heals if the eye 
has received a wound, take of double refined loaf 
sugar, salt, and white ginger, of each an equal 
quantity-— grind them to dust, and place a small 
quantity in a quill and blow it in the eye every 
other morning until the film disappears: using at 
intervals the eye water above directed, and weak 
salt and water. 



FARCY. 
The Farcy is a kind of leprosy or creeping 
ulcer, caused by the corruption of the blood and 
other juices, f«nd is as much to be dreaded as any 
malady to which a horse is subject. It is conta- 
j gious in the extreme, and if not cured in the first 
! stage, never fails to terminate in the glanders, 
i 8 



86 

It sometimes makes its appearance on a parti- 
cular part, whilst at other times it spreads its hor- 
rid ravages through the whole system. It begins 
in hard knots about the veins in various parts of 
the body, and sometimes spreading all over it. 
These knots soon turn into soft blisters, which , 
ought to be opened with a lancet to keep the hu- 
mours from returning into the system. These 
blisters discharge an oily ichor, and turn to foul 
spreading ulcers. 

The poison of this disease, though sure, ap- 
pears slow in its operation, as a horse will fre- 
quently linger and dwindle away for six or twelve { 
months; and the ulcers will increase in number , 
and size till the flesh appears almost disposed to 
fall from the bones before life is destroyed. The 
horse's appetite continues good during this dis- 
ease, and he may be of some service to the last. 
His hair appears dead, and his eyes look sad and j 
•desponding. 

CURE. 
The Farcy, in its first stage, readily admits of t 
a cure ; but after running on for a length of time J 
the cure is extremely difficult. To effect a cure \ 
in this distressing disease in the first stage, bleed i 
three times the first week, taking half a gallon , 



87 

of blood at §ach bleeding ;. feed on green wheat, 
clover, or other long food, (if to be had,) or oats, 
bran, and such other things as are easy of diges- 
tion ; remove all filth from the stable, and take 
care to keep it neat and clean ; give three mash- 
es of bran a week, scalded with sassafras tea, one 
table-spoon full of powdered brimstone, and one 
tea-spoon full of saltpetre; six hours afterwards 
place at least half an ounce of asafcetida in his 
watering bucket in a linen rag, nailed to the bot- 
tom, and give him as much as he chooses to drink 
out of the said bucket of equal parts of water 
and strong sassafras tea; this tea and water mix- 
ed, should be his constant drink. Place in his 
trough asafoetida, as directed to be put in his wa- 
tering bucket. The ulcers should be washed 
well once a day in strong soapsuds, and after 
they are dry bathe them with the spirits of tur- 
pentine, and if swelled, apply an ointment of 
hog's lard and sulphur, or mercurial ointment. 

The second week bleed twice, and if the horse 
is able to bear it, take half a gallon from him 
each time; give the same number of mashes as 
directed for the first week, and continue the same 
drink, taking care to renew the asafcetida when 
necessary. The third week bleed but once, and 



88 

take but one quart: in all other respects conti- 
nue as before. 

Moderate exercise twice a day, and a little 
hominy, should be given to keep up his strength 
and appetite. At the end of the third week, if 
tiie disease is only local, it will be removed. 

If the farcy is epidemical, the cure is difficult, 
and will require more active medicine. In this 
case give a ball every night for a week, composed 
of twenty-five grains of calomel, a quarter of an 
ounce of powdered fennel seed, a small quantity 
of any kind of syrup, and as much of the crumb 
of bread as will make it into a ball; wash the 
buds or ulcers clean once a day with bluestone 
water, and rub them with mercurial ointment; a 
narrow pitch plaister should be laid on at the 
joining of the head and neck in the direction of 
a throat latch, (see plate,) for the purpose of tak- 
ing off the hair, which will happen in two or 
three days; after which a lump of mercurial 
ointment about the size of a hickory nut, must 
be rubbed on the naked part amongst the large 
glands of the throat until it is entirely absorbed, 
every night and morning for one week; added 
to which, the treatment may be the same as 
before, with the exception that the drink should 
be blood warm: and whilst the balls are giving.. 



89 

the sulphur must be omitted, as it counteracts the 
effects of the calomel and ointment; and he should 
not be bled. Great care should be taken to pre- 
vent his catching cold in any way while under 
the influence of medicine. 

At the expiration of the first week stop using 
the balls and ointment for a few days, adding 
sulphur to the mashes, as directed in the first 
stage. At the end of the second week disconti- 
nue the sulphur and go on with the pills and 
ointment, continuing to change in this way until 
the cure is performed. Should his mouth become 
sore at any time before the expiration of a week, 
stop the balls, and add the sulphur to the mashes. 

The farcy is so contagious that it often de- 
stroys every horse on a plantation, and leaves 
the farmer's plough standing still in the field. 
Some few years since, a gentleman in this county 
lost ten or twelve horses without being able to 
save one, although one of the best judges' of a 
horse, and one of the most attentive men in the 
State to those useful animals. In every case it 
terminated in the glanders. 

The farcy has been known to visit several 
farms in the United States with effects so dread- 
ful as not only to destroy every one of the spe- 
cies without respect to age, but could not be di- 
8* 



90 

verted from its stand, or completely eradicated, 
until stables, shelters, pens, litter, he, were com- 
pletely consumed and reduced to ashes, 



FISTULA. 

The Fistula in the withers is most commonly 
produced by bruises from going in and out of 
low doors, bad hames, he. 

I have been surprised that farriers view this as 
one of the most disagreeable and difficult diseases 
to which a horse is subject. 

Mr. Mason goes so far as to recommend to 
every person whose situation will admit of a sa- 
crifice, to dispose of a horse thus affected, for 
whatever sum he will bring, or even give him 
away, sooner than be at the expense and trouble, 
and running the risk of performing a cure, which, 
if completed, would be tedious, and the horst 
much lessened in value in consequence of being 
disfigured by the scar, which unavoidably will be 
left. 

I have been in the habit of curing, and seeing 
others cure this disease, for thirty years, and ne- 
ver knew a scar left where the disease was well 
managed, or a hair amiss* 



91 

True it is, when the cure is performed the 
horse's withers are sunk lower than before, and 
is what is commonly called crest-fallen; but 
this, in my humble opinion, disfigures a horse 
but little, if any, and sometimes helps his ap- 
pearance, especially if he be what is called ewe 
necked. 

SYMPTOMS. 

This disease first makes its appearance by a 
swelling of the withers close to the points of the 
shoulders, and generally speaking, is confined 
mostly to one side. 

CURE. ' 

When this disease first makes its appearance; 
bleed copiously, and give him a pound of salts; 
then take an axe, or some other heavy well tem- 
pered sharp piece of steel, and after wetting and 
dividing the hair so that the skin can be seen 
from the head to the root of the tail, and from 
one ancle, over the withers, to the other, run the 
edge along slowly each way, taking care to cross 
about the centre of the swelling, pressing it so 
as to cut the skin nearly through the grain in 
every part: when you come to the swelling, hold 
your axe, or other instrument, on the centre, with 



99 

the edge so bearing as to enable you to feel with 
your fingers the inner skin or felm give way and 
separate without cutting through the outer part. 

This being done, across the swelling apply a 
bag of salt and Japan earth, as hot as he can 
bear it, then use the spirits of turpentine twice or 
thrice the first week, and once for two succeeding 
weeks, by bathing the part well; put a small 
rowel in the lower point of each shoulder, and 
there is ten chances to one if your horse is not 
well in a month — provided you do not use him, 
nor suffer the part to be bruised. 

If, contrary to what might be expected, it 
should assume a formidable appearance, fomen- 
tations of bitter herbs should be employed in ad- 
dition to the turpentine. 

This application is intended to promote sup- 
puration, and when the matter is sufficiently form- 
ed, make an incision of sufficient size to let the 
matter discharge itself freely, observing to range 
your lancet with the blood vessels and hair in 
such a manner as to avoid the former, and pre- 
vent making a greater scar than necessary by 
crossing the latter. After it has been running a 
day or two, inject into it strong soapsuds, and 
wash it until properly cleansed both inside and 
out. Then fill it with parts of oil and spirits of 



93 

turpentine twice in the course of the first week, 
often bathing and cleansing the parts with a 
strong decoction of slippery elm ; after which 
wash it once a day with apple balsam and old ap- 
ple brandy well mixed; keep the air and sun from 
it by applying a plaister of any kind of good 
salve over the wound, that being first filled with 
lint or soft tow dipped in the balsam. Continue 
this until well. 



FEVERS. 

Fevers in horses are generally produced by 
excessive labour, or the rays of the sun, or both. 
The symptoms are, a restless, heavy, dull look; 
swollen and inflamed eyes; strong, high coloured 
urine, and an immoderate loss of appetite. 

CURE. 

Moderate bleeding at the commencement of 
this disease, is of infinite service; the food should 
be light, and of a cooling nature, such as green 
wheat, clover, or other good grass or hay, bran 
mashes, &c. He should not be exposed to the 
sun, or bad weather; the body kept open by the 
following injections: 



94 

Take one ounce of senna, one handful of meal, 
a handful of salt, and a small quantity of camo- 
mile flowers or black snakeroot : add to them one 
quart of boiling- water: when only blood warm 
strain it, and add thereto half a pint of sweet or 
castor oil. 

DRINK. 

To one handful of spicewood add one ounce 
of liquorice, one handful of Indian physic, one 
pennyweight of nitre, and half an ounce of wild 
cherry or dogwood root bark when dry, or dou- 
ble the quantity when green : put this into one 
quart of boiling water, and when cool, strain and 
give, it as a drench once or twice a day, accord* 
ing to the fever. You may allow him as much 
cold spring water as he will drink, but it must 
be often, and in small quantities. 



FATTENING. 
It appears to be the opinion of a great man>, 
that it is necessary for a horse to swallow a cer- 
tain quantity of medicine before he can be fat- 
tened to advantage, while others rely on an un- 
common or peculiar kind of food; but experience 



95 

has proven that both opinions are erroneous, and 
that the few simples which I shall here recom- 
mend, together with good rubbing and a particu- 
lar manner of feeding, will accomplish the fat- 
tening of a horse in a short time. After prepar- 
ing your stable in a proper manner, a thing that 
every one understands, and will do if he has in- 
dustry, he must provide a sufficiency of good 
sweet corn, hominy, oats, chopped rye, bran and 
fodder; also, a sufficient quantity of straw to 
make him a comfortable and clean bed; then 
notice the condition of the animal for the pur- 
pose of bleeding in the neck. Should he be very 
poor, take from him only one quart; if in tolera- 
ble plight, two — repeating the bleeding every 
eight or ten days until he is fat. Take of the 
flaxseed one pint, out of which make one quart 
of strong tea; take of powdered brimstone one 
table-spoon full; saltpetre, one tea-spoon full; 
bran, one peck— mix them all together, scalding 
the bran with the tea, forming a mash, which may 
be given every eight days, not permitting the 
horse to drink cold water for eight or ten hours 
afterwards. Take of asafcetida half an ounce, 
wrap it in a clean linen rag, and nail it to the 
bottom of the manger in which the horse is fed ; 



96 

at first he will cat unwillingly, but in a few days 
he will grow remarkably fond of it. 

When you commence treating a horse kindly 
th»t has been cruelly used, it should be with great 
caution, to prevent founders or other injuries, 
those serviceable animals being too often hard 
used and half starved. 

For three or four days he should be allowed 
from two to two and a half gallons of grain a 
day, six bundles of fodder, and the same quantity 
of hay : or instead of hay, a reasonable propor- 
tion of green wheat or red clover, if the season 
permits it. 

After the third or fourth day, never permit 
the manger to be entirely empty, taking care to 
change the food every day, giving the largest 
portion in bran, viz: bran and hominy, bran and 
oats, bran and corn, bran alone, oats, corn, ho- 
miny, &c. 

The food moistened occasionally with strong 
sassafras tea, has an admirable effect: it whets 
the appetite, enriches the blood, and opens the 
bowels. 

Whenever a horse is fed, all dust, sour food, 
Stc. should be removed from his manger, which 
should be washed twice a week with vinegar and 
salt, or strong salt and water; this kind treat- 



rnent will aid the appetite, and keep the manger 
sweet and clean. 

If the season of the year affords green food 
of any kind, a tolerable chance of it three times 
a day, will greatly assist in the accomplishment 
of your object. Wheat and clover is preferable 
to any other green food. 

Throw a handful of salt into his water at least 
three times a week— it will become very grateful 
to the taste after a few days' confinement, and 
will prevent him from eating dirt. 

If the object be to fatten a horse as speedily 
as possible, and give him unusual life and spirit, 
he should not be brought out of the stable, not 
even led to water; but if you want him to render 
hard service, I would recommend moderate exer- 
cise ev. ry two or three days, carefully avoiding 
fretting or alarming him; more injury maybe 
done to a horse by fretting him one day, than 
you can remove in a week by the kindest treat- 
ment. 

The hoofs should be cleaned every morning 
and evening, stuffed with clay and salt, or fresh 
cow manure, to keep the feet cool and prevent 
a swelling in the legs. A plenty of good rub- 
bing is absolutely necessary for placing flesh 
speedily on a horse; and a blanket or other co- 
9 



98 

vering, at any time, except in the summer months, 
will give his coat of hai'r a beautiful gloss, and 
add much to his comfort and appearance. 



FOUNDERS. 

Having treated on the Chest Founder (the 
worst of all founders,) in a former chapter, 1 
shall here point out the symptoms attendant on 
a common founder only, and prescribe such me- 
dicine, and the manner of treatment, as experi- 
ence has proven to be most expedient and bene- 
ficial in this disease. 

The injuiT sustained by a horse being foun- 
dered, is sometimes produced by the cruelty of 
>ils master, and at other times by injudicious 
treatment, but more frequently by carelesness or 
want of neccssarj' knowledge in the treatment of 
those excellent animals. 

Although the horse is eudowed with great 
strength and powers, yet he seldom exerts either 
to the prejudice of his master; on the contrary, 
he shares with him in his labours, and seems to 
participate with him in his pleasures. Generous 
and persevering, he gives up his whole powers 
to the service of his master: and though bold 



and intrepid, he represses the natural fire and vi- 
vacity of his temper, and not only yields to the 
hand and words, but seems to consult the inclina- 
tion of his rider. 

Must it not then be a matter of regret to every 
feeling mind, that these excellent qualities should 
be so often shamefully abused in unprofitable ex- 
ertions, and the honest labours of this noble ani- 
mal thrown away in the ungrateful task of ac- 
complishing the purpose of an unfeeling folly, or 
lavished in gratifying the expectations of an in- 
temperate moment. 

A horse may be foundered by excessive hard 
rides, permitting him to get wet while hot and 
sweating, and drinking great quantities of cold 
water, eating large quantities of new com and 
fodder, and then briskly exercised; over feeding 
with bran alone whilst performing hard labour; 
drinking plentifully at every branch when travel- 
ling; feeding with too great quantities after being 
half starved; violent exercise on a full belly; or 
not permitting a horse, when very hot, to cool 
before he has as much as he can eat, drink, &c; 

SYMPTOMS. 

The symptoms of an approaching founder are 
so few and so common, that the most ignorant 

ILcfC.! 



luu 

persons rarely can be mistaken. They are, great 
heat about the legs, pastfcrns and ears; a soreness 
in the feet, together with a great stiffness in his 
limbs; his flanks, and the lower part of his belly, 
draw up; his hide becomes tight; his legs thrown 
a little more forward than usual; swelling of the 
ancles, and a continual thirst, &tc. 

CURE. 

So soon as you find that your horse is foun- 
dered, take at least a gallon of blood from his 
neck vein; give him one pound of salts in three 
pints of water, and if in the summer, spring, or 
fall season, let him stand for three hours up to 
his belly in water, after which, rub his legs until 
quite dry; clean out all his hoofs well, and fill 
them with cow manure, or clay and salt, and 
there confine it — this should be repeated every 
twelve hours. His constant drink should be one 
half sassafras tea, and the other half spring wa- 
ter; a handful of salt should be added occasion- 
ally. Of this mixture he may be suffered to take 
as much as he pleases once in four hours. 

Let all his bran and oats be scalded with sas- 
safras or spicewood tea, and if the season will 
permit it, his food should be mostly green wheat, 
clover, or some other green grass, for it has the 



101 

happy effect of opening jthe bowels and cooling 
the system. If he should not have mended very 
perceptibly before the next morning, take half a 
gallon or three quarts more of blood, and give 
him another drench. If he should have mended 
considerably, nothing more will be necessary, ex- 
cept being careful not to overfeed him. He 
should be fed on green food, his legs often bath- 
ed ; and if there be no change for the better, bathe 
them in equal parts of strong vinegar, spirits and 
sweet oil; tie a cord just above his knees, and 
with a lancet, or fleam, bleed above the hoof in 
a vein that runs round the coronet: take from 
each leg one pint of blood, and continue the 
stuffing in his feet. 

A horse in this unpleasant situation requires 
great attention. Whenever they are foundered, 
they search for a bank of manure to stand on, 
which should always be prevented, as its heat in- 
creases the (e\er. 

A foundered horse is generally very much re- 
duced in flesh before a cure is effected, and is 
always more subject to founder afterwards. 

Large ridges on the hoofs, or turning up of 
the feet, are strong indications of old founders or 
other injuries. 



9* 



102 

GONO^RHCEA. 
This disease, so called, is properly a running 
at the reins, occasioned by too hard and frequent 
covering and spending upon mares. 

SYMPTOMS. 

It is known by a discharge of yellow matter 
from the yard, and a swelling of the penis: he 
stales with considerable pain, and can with diffi- 
culty draw up his yard when down. 

When this happens, the speediest and most cer- 
tain remedy is to geld him. If you should not 
think proper to resort to this method of cure, 
bleed him moderately, and give the following 
medicine made into a ball, one of which should 
*e given every night: Take diapente, half an 
ounce; common turpentine, half an ounce; liquo- 
rice, half an ounce; and wheat flour sufficient to 
form a ball. At least half his drink should be 
slippery elm or flaxseed tea. 

The sheath and penis should be fomented with 
the elm tea two or three times a day; a small 
quantity of the sugar of lead added once in a 
while, will not be amiss. 



103 

GREASE. 
This is a very eomm sHisease amongst horses 
in some coigen fes^ lie an'-eeds from hard labour 
and bacj.th dirt, >^d an suffering the ancles, 
fetloc'settles to the quick tft tiahy for a conside- 
rably. k> d of stinking stuff 
rema k prevent this "■■ h heats the feet and legs 
to a c2-» e f ee 'foyi ftflecti every part of the leg as 
well as the foot. 



SYMPTOMS. 
This disease is known by a swelling of the 
leg and heel, and a discharge of a kind of mat- 
tes resembling grease, (from which it derives its 
name,) attended with a stiffness of the joints, 
which many times renders ts»e animal unfit for 
service. Persons unacquainted with the manage- 
ment of a horse, suffer the hair to grow about 
the heels, under the absurd idea of its preventing 
the stones or Hints from cutting or bruising them. 
This argument is so plausible to ignorant people, 
that they transmit it from sire to son. Could 
they be prevailed upon to keep the hair as short 
as possible on that part, they would soon be con- 
vinced of the advantages arising therefrom. 



104 

CURE. 

The strictest attentif et should be paid to the 
keeping his legs and fe "y ean, b r d ashing tliem 
every morning in soapsu'P 011 tdjfres. ie m dry ; 

after which, rub them >»wing 

rr. i .,,"OMS. 

ointment: laKe one gill tine, 

tour table-spoons full of powde 1 °' yellow m } one 
pint of lard, and one table-spoon full o£ en iwder- 
ed copperas: mix ail together, and it will be fit 
for use — with which ointment anoint the part 
once every day for a week. Bleed him mode- 
rately, and give a mash of bran every night 
scalded with sassafras tea, to which must be ad- 
ded a table-spoon full of powdered sulphur; con- 
tinue this one week, then add a tea-spoon full of 
antimony, cover him with a blanket, and do not 
suffer him to drink any thing cold for forty-eight 
hours. One dose of the antimony will be suffi- 
cient. Nothing more will then be necessary to 
keep the feet and legs clean, but by washing them 
twice a day with pot liquor. It might not be 
amiss about the time you first undertake the cure, 
to clean out the insides of the hoofs and fill one 
at a time with the spirits of turpentine, holding it 
up until it is absorbed. 



105 

GRAVEL IN THE HOOF. 

This is an accident which happens to horses in' 
travelling, occasioned by small stones or grit get- 
ting in between the shoe and hoof; and, by being 
pressed with dirt, saitd and other things that fol- 
low it, settles to the quick, and then inflames and 
festers. 

To prevent this disease, every person ought to 
have the feet of the horse that is in constant use 
cleaned out at least once every day. In scraping 
out the hoof, it will always be found that the 
dirt, sand, he. gathers towards the toe, becomes 
extremely hard, and presses to that degree be- j 
tween the shoe and toe of the foot, as to occasion 
uneasiness, and if suffered to remain, makes a 
horse travel much worse than he otherwise would 
if that part was kept well freed. 

CURE. 

The first step is to take off the shoe, then as- 
certain where the gravel lies by pressing the edge 
of the hoof with a pair of pincers. After all 
the gravel has been removed, which may be 
known by a discontinuation of the blackness of 
the place, the wound caused by cutting for the 
gravel may be easily healed by melting together 
equal parts of beeswax, lard or oil, and rosin* 



106 

and pouring the mixture on the wound as warn* 
I as it can be borne without giving pain ; then ap- 
ply a little tar or pitch to a hot iron, hold it over 
the wound and its neighbouring parts until well 
covered — this will keep out the dust and defend 
the foot from any hard substance for a few days, 
in which time it will get well. 



HIDE BOUxND. 

A horse is said to be hide bound when his 
skin will not slip under the pressure of the hand. 

CAUSE. 

Horses are sometimes hide bound in conse- 
quence of feeling the effects of some approaching 
violent disease, and is often a bad symptom; but 
generally, the tightness of the skin proceeds from 
poverty, cruel usage, or from worms. 

CURE. 

First offer better treatment by giving plenty 
of wholesome food, salt, and a clean stable, with 
fresh litter; then take from the neck vein half a 
gallon of blood; at night give a mash composed 
of one gallon of bran scalded with sassafras t.< a, 



107 

©ne table-spoon full of powdered brimstone, and 
one tea-spoon full of saltpetre, not permitting 
him to drink until the next morning". 

On the second day, give him two table-spoons 
full of copperas, one quart of warm sassafras tea, 
and one tea-spoon full of saltpetre, as a drench. 

Have the animal well rubbed three or four 
times a day, and in one week he will be relieved. 



HOOKS, OR HAW. 

This appears to be a nervous affection, and if 
allowed to continue long, will not only occasion 
blindness, but affect the whole system and termi- 
nate in a general spasmodic affection. 

Much has been said about the best method of 
cutting the hooks, and as there are many who 
will not be convinced that there is any other re- 
medy for this disease, after describing it, I will 
lay down the most approved plan of performing 
this operation. 

The hooks in a horse, is the growing of a 
horny substance upon the inner edge of the 
washer of the eye, which ma) 7 be found in the 
corner next to the nose. 



108 

When this disease makes its appearance, the 
washer is enlarged with great rapidity, and the 
ligament that runs along the edge of this mem- 
brane becomes extremely hard, and whenever it 
arrives to this state, it draws, compresses, and 
causes great pain to the eyes. 

As the eyes of horses are often inflamed and 
diseased without their having the hooks ; for the 
purpose of ascertaining the fact, stand before him, 
and with the bridle raise the head as high as you 
can : if he has the hooks, the washer of the eye, 
while the head is raised, will cover at least one 
half of the ball, which is not the case in any 
other disease. 

CURE. 

Take a common sized needle, with a strong 
thread, place on the horse's nose a twitch to 
prevent his moving, then between your thumb 
and finger take the washer of the eye and pass 
the needle through it about the eighth of an 
inch from the outer edge and inside the horny 
substance, draw it gently with the needle and 
thread until you can have a fair chance of per- 
forming the operation: then, with a sharp knife, 
cut the piece out taken up with the needle, which 
must not be larger than one-fourth part of a four- 



109 

pence half-penny; wash the eyes for two or three 
mornings with salt and water, and it is said the 
cure will be performed in a few days. 

For my own part, I am not an advocate for 
the above practice, (as it never fails to weaken the 
sight and disfigure the eyes,) and have only, as 
before stated, laid down this method of cure to 
gratify those who will not be convinced it can be 
performed in any other way. 

The powders and eye water recommended in 
cases of films, will alone have the desired effect. 

Some horses have a nervous affection called 
the wolf teeth, which occasions the eyes to have 
very much the appearance of the hooks; this 
disease you will see explained under the title 
Wolf Teeth 



HUNGRY EVIL. 

This disease can only be known from the rapid 
eating and large quantities of food it takes to 
satisfy the animal, which makes it extremely dif- 
ficult to ascertain, in a country like this, whether 
a horse has this malady or not, there being a 
great many that are always half starved, and 
consequently eat as though they were diseased. 
10 



110 

CURE. 
The Hungry Evil proceeds from crudities in 
the stomach: therefore, purging is necessary to 
carry it off. After his stomach is well cleansed, 
give him every morning a lump of chalk in his 
feed about the size of a goose egg, and exercise 
liim freely. 

INJECTIONS, HOW TO GIVE. 

As injections are very often the means of saving 
horses' lives, I shall here recommend the best and 
simplest mode of giving them. 

First, rake your horse as directed in page 48$ 
then take a large bladder and soften it in warm 
water; take a pewter pipe, common reed, or any 
other smooth tube, nine or ten inches long, and 
not exceeding one inch in diameter; pour the 
clyster through a funnel into the bladder, and 
securely tie the neck around one end of the tube: 
the other must be made perfectly smooth and 
rounding, well oiled, and introduced into the 
anus several inches; the liquid in the bladder 
must be forced through the tube by pressing it 
with both hands. 

Great care is necessary to be observed in in- 
troducing the tube into the anus, to prevent 
hurting or alarming the animal. 



Ill 

LAMPASS* 
This is a disease which all young horses are 
subject to, and some suffer and decline very much 
before it is discovered : it prevents a horse from 
eating as fast as he otherwise would, which make,? 
it necessary to feed him alone* 

SYMPTOMS* 

It is known by a swelling of the first bar of 
the upper palate adjoining the front teeth, which 
frequently rises above them, and prevents him 
from biting his corn off the ears, and grazing 
with dexterity. 

CURE. 

It is a common practice in this country to bum 
it down with a red hot iron, which almost every 
blacksmith has made for that purpose, 

It is surprising to see such a barbarous and 
injurious practice recommended and followed by 
farriers themselves. Had these men been stu- 
dious to devise the most inhuman methods of 
curing the diseases of horses, they could not have 
succeeded better in uniting art and cruelty to- 
gether. 

To cure this disease, it is only necessary to 
scarify the swelled part with a sharp knife, which 



112 

at once gives a temporary relief; then take hall 
a pint of vinegar, one table-spoon full of salt, 
one gill of sweet oil, and half a gill of the spirits 
of turpentine : mix all well together, and anoint 
the swelling with a sponge or linen rag dipped 
in this mixture three times a day, as warm as the 
horse can bear it — in a short time the swelling 
will disappear. 



LETHARGY. 

When the chyle is too quickly converted into 
blood, which is propelled through the left ventri- 
cle of the heart, by the different canals, to the 
various parts of the body, the quantity thereof 
will be increased, and will become too thick, 
which will consequently occasion a dull, heavy, 
and sleepy appearance. 

CURE. 

Lessen the quantity of blood by one or two 
copious bleedings, and thin it by giving the fol- 
lowing ball every night till you find the disease 
abates, viz: Linseed, powdered, half an ounce; 
the same quantity of cardanum seed ; forty grains 
of calomel; sixty grains of Peruvian bark: and 



half an ounce of rhubarb: make this into a ball 
by adding a sufficient quantity of the spirits of 
lavender. 

This medicine has a wonderful effect on a 
horse ; it is calculated to enliven him,, as also to 
thin and sweeten the blood. 

Warm bran mashes should be given once or 
twice a day while he is taking the medicine, and 
prevent his sleeping as much as possible by mov- 
ing him about and blowing snuff in his nostrils. 



LAXITY 

Is a flux or running of a thin watery matter 
from the intestinum rectum, and is very frequent- 
ly the effect of a preceding costiveness. 

A looseness will frequently happen when the 
pores of the skin or other customary evacuations 
are suddenly stopped, by which means the animal 
juices obtain a putrefactive and corrosive quality, 
which causes a scouring discharge of the excre- 
ments; after which, a running of the before men- 
tioned matter will ensue — which matter, if forced 
from the gall duct, will be of a yellowish, and 
sometimes a red colour^ 
10* 



114 
CURE. 

Instead of stopping this disease on a sudden, 
it should rather be encouraged by gentle purges, 
to render this discharge regular and uniform; 
after which, the acidity of the stomach (which is 
nothing more than the profusion of bile,) must 
be corrected and destroyed by degrees with alka- 
lis and absorbent medicines, viz : 

Take one ounce of rhubarb, one gill of linseed 
oil, and one ounce of liquorice, mix it in a quart 
of elm tea, and give it as a drench : his constant 
drink should be weak elm tea. 

The following clyster should be given once a 
day : Lime water, one quart ; red oak bark, one 
handful; boil them together, strain and give it 
as other injections. 

Or, one quart of the tea of dewberry root, 
with half an ounce of Castile soap dissolved 
.herein. 



MA LENDERS 
Are cracks situated on the inside bend of the 
knee, which discharges a thin, sharp, watery 
matter: are painful, causing great stiffness^ but 
not difficult to cure. 



115 

CURE* 

Wash the parts with copperas water; and alter 
it dries, wet it with pot liquor twice a day, andt 
the cure will soon be performed. 



MANGE. 

This appears to be a disease of the skin, and 
is in horses something like the itch in persons* 
No disease is more infectious ; it has been known 
to be taken by carrying a horse into a stable 
where one has been with that disease: in fact, he 
will be almost certain to take it in that way un- 
less the litter has been removed and the stable 
well cleansed and aired. 

The burning of sulphur, vinegar or tar, in the 
stable, after it has been cleansed, will be of ser-*- 
yice. 

SYMPTOMS* 

The skin becomes rough, thick, and full of 
wrinkles, especially about the mane r tail, and 
thighs; the greatest part of the hair on those 
parts shed off, and the little that remains standi 
up like bristles, 



116' 
CURE. 

The cure in this disease, by proper attention, 
3s rendered both safe and easy. 

First, bleed him copiously: then make an oint- 
ment of hogs' lard and powdered brimstone, and 
anoint the parts affected twice a day; give about 
three bran mashes scalded with sassafras tea, with 
a reasonable portion of sulphur and saltpetre ad- 
ded thereto, in the course of a week; keep him 
in a clean stable, and have a nice straw bed for 
him to lie on ; rub him regularly and well, and 
the cure will soon be effected, 



MOULTEN GREASE. 

This disorder so seldom happens in this country 
that it scarcely deserves a place here; over-fat 
horses only are subject to it. 



SYMPTOMS. 



It is known by a discharge of an oily matter 
with the excrescence, and by a restlessness, fre- 
quent strainings, he. 



CURE. 



A cure is made in this disease by moderate 
bleeding and purging, a moderate and regular 



117 

manner of feeding, and constant exercise, in a 
walk only. 

Give a ball once a week, made of three-fourths 
of an ounce of aloes ; half that quantity of anti- 
mony; about the same of rhubarb; and a tea- 
spoon full of powdered ginger, with any kind of 
syrup : continue this for one month. 

Take of cream of tartar half an ounce, the 
same quantity of Japan earth, and one ounce of 
nitre; make this into a ball by adding honey or 
syrup, and give one morning and evening, ex- 
cept on the days you give the above purge. 



OSSELETTS 

Are occasioned by the same treatment, and are 
of the same nature as splents, and are very fre- 
quently taken for the same thing; they are, how- 
ever, somewhat different, for splents are situated 
near the knees, and osseletts near the fetlocks. 

CURE. 

Excite the parts by rubbing with a round stick 
until they feel warm, then apply the blistering 
plaster as directed in the case of the spavin ; af- 
ter the blister is cured, use the spirits of turpen- 



1]8 



tine one da}% and warm salt and vinegar the 
other, rubbing it twice or thrice each day with 
a round stick until well, as before directed. 



POLL EVIL. 

This disease, like the fistula, proceeds from 
some external injury, and its consequences and 
manner of treatment is much the same. 

It is an abscess or swelling found immediately 
on the poll, or nap of the neck, and from first to 
last, should be treated in every respect like the 
fistula. 



QUITTER BONE. 
This is a little round, hard swelling, situated 
at the coronet in the inside of the hoof; it is ge- 
nerally attended witlj lameness, and if neglected 
too long, will break, and ulcerate the foot. 

CURE. 
Open the place with a lancet or knife, and pui 
a little oil of vitriol into the incision, which will 
so eat and separate the flesh from the bone, thai 



11§ 

- vithoir difficulty extract it with your 
p er and thum:;; if you find the vitriol eats too 
much, put a stop to it by pouring- on cold water* 
After the bone is got cut, heal up the wound 
with a salve made of equal parts of turpentine, 
*il, and the yolk of an egg. 



RING BONE. 

This disease partakes of the nature of the spa- 
vin, and proceeds from the same cause. It makes 
its appearance on the lower part of the coffin 
joint. 

It is a hard boney substance, and generally 
reaches half round the ancles like a ring, from 
which it takes its name. It gives the ancle an 
unusual appearance, and causes both stiffness and 
lameness. 

CURE. 

This disease is easily cured if attacked when 
it first makes its appearance; as it continues long- 
er and grows larger, it becomes more and more 
obstinate. 

The same conduct must be observed as in the 
spavin. See page 55. 



120 

RUPTURE. 

When the thin caul which holds up the entrails 
is strained or broken by an overreach or blow, 
the intestines will descend with a soft yielding | 
swelling towards the hock, which is termed a I 
rupture. 

CURE. 

The parts must be fomented three or four times j 
a day with emolient herbs. His drink should be | 
elm tea, and meal and water; his food in small j 
quantities, and cooling. 

Apply a large strengthening plaster over his 
loins, and let it remain as long as it will stick, j 
A soft bandage will greatly assist in effecting a j 
<:ure. 



rat's tail. 

This disease is known by a kind of channel 
which makes its appearance on the horse's hind 
legs, (for it seldom appears on the fore legs,) ex- \ 
tending upwards from the fetlock to the hock, by 
the hair separating to both sides. It sometimes' 
occasions a stiffness, but not often lameness. 



1-21 

€URE. 

Kub the part well with a round stick, and anoint- 
it with the spirits of turpentine two or three times 
a week. 



SIT FASTS 

Are occasioned by the part being frequently 
bruised with the saddle until it becomes hard and 
of a horny appearance; the gristle that always 
attends this complaint will continue to grow un- 
der the skin (if the animal is used,) until a remedy 
is applied. I have known it to extend six inches 
downwards on each side from the back bone. 

It is really surprising that many persons will 
not be convinced that this complaint can be cured 
without the use of the knife. 

•I have many times purchased horses thus dis- 
eased at reduced prices on that account, and ne- 
ver yet failed to make a perfect cure without cut- 
ting or burning, or losing one single day's ser- 
vice on that account. It is true, I always put 
them to work in preference to riding, there being 
less difficulty in using them without bruising the 
wound, which must never be done. The gear 
11 



122 

can always be placed on so as not to touch the 
sore- 

If it should be necessary to ride a horse in 
this situation, have a good pad provided to go 
under the one belonging to the saddle. Before 
you use this false pad, cover the whole of the 
swelled part, including the gristle, with flour; 
place on your pad as if you were going to ride, 
press on it with your hand so as to make every 
part touch; then take it of! and gently turn it 
over ; you may then plainly discover where the 
pad covers the sore, which will enable you to as- 
certain precisely where the pad wants cutting — 
rhen cut the piece entirely out where the pres- 
sure of the pad or saddle might prove injurious. 
This being done, quilt your pad around the hole 
thus cut to prevent the stuffing' from falling out 
or gathering in knots, always placing this pad 
under your saddle when you are going to ride, 
until the back gets entirely well. 

CURE. 

Bathe the sore well with the spirits of turpen- 
tine twice the first week, then once each succeed- 
ing week for two weeks. After the third week, 
wash the sore well every other day with equal 
parts of strong vinegar and spirits of turpentine. 



123 

with as much salt as can be dissolved therein r 
continue this two weeks: after which rub the 
parts often, but not so as to bruise them, and m 
$ne week more the cure will be perfected^ 



SORE TONGUE.. 

This disease first made its appearance in Vir- 
ginia about the year 1807, and appeared to have 
been brought from the western States; how long 
it has existed in other States, I am not able to 
say. It is a most contagious malady, and for 
the first year or two did much mischief on that 
account. Although the disease itself, when pro- 
perly managed, seldom proves fatal, yet the con- 
sequences are often troublesome when badly ma- 
naged, and seldom fails to reduce a horse's flesh 

SYMPTOMS. 
When a horse is attacked with this disease, he 
fails to eat as before, on account of the extreme 
soreness of his tongue, and sometimes of the roof 
or palate of his mouth ; there is a continual drip- 
ping from the lips, and on opening his mouth, his 
tongue will be found iiidained and full of sores. 



124 

CURE. 

Give him salt to lick (in small quantities,) twu 
or three times a day; if he will take it wa?h his 
mouth with alum water every morning; and in 
the evening, anoint the sores with equal parts of 
spirits of turpentine and sweet oil. 

His food should be bran, hominy, green hay> 
or stemmed fodder, softened in weak salt and wa- 
ter, or any thing that is soft, to prevent his falling 
off. 

I have known a horse kept fat in this disease 
by having corn meal mixed in all the water he 
drank. 

Wrap the bit of his bridle in a linen rag, in 
which enclose a small quantity of saltpetre and 
liquorice, and occasionally put it on and let it re- 
main a few minutes, and the cure will soon be 
made. 



CALENDERS. 

This disease differs but little from that called 
the Malenders. 

The Malenders are situated on the inside bend 
of the knee, and the Salenders, on the inside 
bend of the hock. 

Their method of cure is precisely the same. 



STIFLE. 

This disease takes its name from the joint that 
is affected, and is the dislocation of the stifle joint; 
the bone is more easily reduced in this joint, and 
consequently more easily cured, than any other 
belonging to the whole anatomy of the horse. 

It may be mistaken for a hoof founder, as the 
lameness occasioned thereby has greatly the same 
appearance unless closely examined. 

SYMPTOMS. 

So soon as the accident happens, the animal 
becomes quite lame, and is unwilling to bear on 
that foot, resting it on the toe and bending the 
stifle joint. 

CURE. 

To reduce the bone and effect a speedy cure, 
you must have a shoe made and put on the foot 
of the well leg in such manner and form as to 
compel him to stand altogether on the diseased 
leg, this being the only certain means that can 
be made use of, except ham-stringing, to compel 
him to bear on the sore side. 

When his weight falls on the diseased leg, place 
your hand over the round bone that has slipped 
II* 



126 

out of its socket, and press it gently in until yo» 
feel it return to its proper place. 

The shoe should be made in the usual way* 
with two bars extending across each other oppo- 
site to the centre of the hoof, forming a point 
about three inches below the frog, so that his foot 
will turn whenever pressed on. 

This is all that is necessary in the complaint, 
except bathing the part with the mixture recom- 
mended in strains; the cure will be performed in 
nine or ten days, when the shoe may come off. 



STRAINS- 

All kinds of strains, whether in the shoulder, 
back, sinew, or any other place, are occasioned 
by slips or blows, and are the relaxing, over- 
stretching, or breaking of the muscles or tendi- 
nous fibres. 

A strain, unless uncommonly bad, may be cured 
in a short time by applying the following reme- 
dies : 

CURE. 

Take of the oil of turpentine one gill; one 
pint of sharp vinegar; half a pint of spirits, and 



127 

one ounce of camphor; mix them well together 
and bathe the injured part twice a day; wrap a 
piece of flannel wet with the mixture around the 
part, and bleed him. 

This mixture is good for spavins, and many 
other diseases. 

Or, take of opodeldoc about the size of the 
end of your finger, and rub on the strained part 
with the naked hand twice a day until the hand 
becomes dry. 

In all cases of strains, rest is necessary; and 
if continued a sufficient length of time, nature 
herself will perform the operation. 

If the weather will permit, the animal should 
run in a lot separate from any thing else. 



SCRATCHES* 

This disease is brought on in many different 
ways: such as hard riding; dirty stables; foun- 
ders; legs left wet at night without being rubbed; 
standing in his own manure, or in mud, &tc. 

This disease is so well known, that it is thought 
unnecessary to say much about the symptoms 
here. I shall, however, point out the most com- 
mon, which is a swelling of the legs, attended 



128 

with considerable inflammation, and a roughness 
over the skin, so much so, that when yon rub 
your hand over the part it feels as if there were 
hundreds of shot sticking in the skin, and is at- 
tended with great stiffness. 

If permitted to run long without any remedy 
being applied, he will scarcely be of any service. 

Although this disease may discover much in- 
veteracy, the cure ought not to be considered 
difficult, 

CURE. 

Take from his neck vein from half a gallon to 
a gallon of blood, (according to the size and con- 
dition of the animal,) and give him a mash twice 
a week of one gallon of bran, one tea-spoon full 
of saltpetre, and otie table-spoon full of powder- 
ed brimstone. Take great care to keep your 
stable dry and nice from the commencement to 
the end of the cure. 

Wash his legs all over with strong soapsuds, 
observing to get all the scabs and lumps entirely 
off them; after which rub them until dry, then 
bathe the inflamed parts (once onh) with a strong 
decoction of red oak bark, to which may be ad- 
ded a reasonable portion of alum and .bluestone. 



129 

Six hours after, take of powdered brimstone, 
spirits of turpentine, and hogs' lard, of each an 
equal quantity: mix them well together, and 
anoint the parts twice a day for one week ; then 
wash them well once a day in liquor that bacon 
and greens have been boiled in, and the cure 
will soon be effected. 



SWiNNEY, 
This is a disease that has become quite com- 
mon in this and many other countries; and al- 
though fatal in its consequences if entirely, ne- 
glected, is attended with no danger if properly 
managed. 

SYMPTOMS, 
It makes its appearance by a gradual decrease, 
shrinking, or wasting away of one or both shoul- 
ders, which occasions lameness if suffered to con- 
tinue long. 

CURE. 
There are many persons in this country, espe- 
cially the Dutch, who think this disease is cured 
by some kind of conjuration; and where people 



130 

expect things to act as charms, they are seldom 
persisted in a sufficient length of time to be of 
^ny real service. Those persons will not have 
any thing done towards effecting a cure, only at 
certain times of the moon; consequently, the poor 
animal is let to suffer for days, or weeks, as it 
may happen, until their supposed proper period 
arrives. It is reduced to a certainty, in my hum- 
ble opinion, that this disease is brought on by 
strains, and ought to be treated as such. 

First, rest is absolutely necessary to insure a 
speedy and permanent cure. Second, bleeding 
and rowelling is of infinite service in this disease. 
Then proceed as directed in cases of other strains 
for the first week; the second week, make an oil 
by stewing two hands full of red or earth worms 
in a pint of fresh butter: strain it, and add thereto 
as much of the spirits of turpentine as you have 
oil. Bathe the parts with this mixture, and rub 
well twice a (Jay to the end of the second week, 
and you will have done all that is necessary. 



SPLINT. 

The Splint is a hard lump or excrescence that 
grows upon the fore legs of a horse just ht\ow 



131 

the knee. It is unpleasant to the eye, but seldom 
does injury unless situated on the back of the 
leg, and immediately under the large tendons, in 
which case lameness is always produced, and the 
cure rendered more difficult. The most favoura- 
ble kind is painful, and sometimes occasions lame- 
ness whilst growing, but will get well of itself, 
except the knots. If the lumps should grow so 
large as to injure the looks of the legs, they 
must be removed by bathing with equal parts of 
hot vinegar and spirits of turpentine made strong 
with salt, twice a day, for at least one week, and 
rubbing the knots afterwards for ten minutes with 
a round stick. 

Should the disease appear obstinate, and not 
perceptibly decrease in size in the course of a 
week, the parts must be shaved, and a blister 
drawn over each knot, then (as soon as healed 
over,) renew the mixture and rubbing. 



.The symptoms of disordered kidneys are the 
discharge of urine in very small quantities, in a 
dribbling manner, and is often attended with pain. 
Hard riding often occasions an inflammation of 



132 

the kidneys as well as retention of urine. When 
a horse's kidneys are disordered, hp is almost 
certain to shrink from the saddle when it is thrown 
on him, and is certain to do it when you mount 
him. 

CURE. 

Take one gill of the spirits of turpentine, one 
table-spoon full of sweet spirits of nitre, and one 
ounce of loaf sugar: put them into one pint of 
elm tea, and give it as a drench every night. 

In the morning give an injection of four table- 
spoons full of castor oil, and one quart of gruel. 



STRANGLES. 

The Strangles is a disease that is incident to 
all young horses, and one which a horse seldom 
escapes until he is five years old. 

It has long since been known in this country 
by the name of the common or colt distemper, 
and seldom, if ever, attacks a horse severely a 
second time. 

SYMPTOMS. 

This disease is known by a dulness of counte- 
nance ; watery eyes; a distressing hollow cough; 



133 

high fevers; loss of. appetite; the glands being 
enlarged between the jaws; and a constant thirst 
without being able to drink unless the water be 
placed as high as his head, in its natural posi- 
tion; after which, a swelling of the jaws and run- 
ning at the nostrils, ensues. 

CURE. 

Take from the neck vein half a gallon of blood 
every other day for eight days; give two mashes 
the first week of bran or oats scalded with sassa- 
fras tea, and add thereto one table-spoon full of 
powdered brimstone, and one tea-spoon full of 
saltpetre. 

Take of asafcetida half an ounce: divide it, 
placing one half in, his watering bucket, (which 
he ought to take once an hour at discretion, in 
fresh spring water,) and the other half in his 
manger. 

His food should be principally green wheat, 
clover, or grass, if to be had, if not, such as is 
light, cooling, and easy of digestion. 

Elm or flaxseed tea may be given in the place 
of asafcetida, if his cough be bad; or, it may be 
changed and given alternately with a little salt- 
petre thrown into it, when the fever appears high. 
Should an abscess form under the jaws, (which 
12 



J 34 

is very common,) a suppurating poultice ought 
lo be applied; and when the matter is sufficiently 
formed, make an incision of a sufficient size to 
discharge the matter freely, fomenting it with a 
decoction of bitter herbs two or three times a 
day. 

Moderate exercise, by walking him twice or 
thrice a day one or two miles, after the fever 
abates, and the running at the nose commences, 
•will be beneficial. A pint of hemp seed, in the 
latter part of the disease, has been known to have 
a wonderful effect. 



SURFEIT, 

This is a disorder in the blood, occasioned by 
poor living, hard labour, and various other kinds 
of bad treatment or injudicious management. 

Sudden changes from heat to cold, unsound 
food, &c. will bring on this disease. 

SYMPTOMS. 
It makes its first appearance by innumerable 
quantities of small lumps under the skin, which 
can be felt before seen ; after which they are vi- 
sible to the sight, and the hair partially falls, or 



135 

is rubbed off by the animal, which has a constant 
itching. After which, a great number of scabs 
are formed, and some small ulcers, and unless 
some remedy be employed, the whole coat of hair 
might, in some cases, fall off, (in the place of 
which, the horse is covered with scabs,) or the 
little that remains will stand erect. 

CURE. 

Take from him in the course of the first week 
one gallon of blood, at different times; give a 
mash of one gallon of bran or oats; one table- 
spoon full of sulphur; one tea-spoon full of salt- 
petre; and one quart of strong sassafras tea, well 
mixed together, every other morning for one 
week — not permitting him to drink for six hours 
after. 

In the intermediate days give him a quart of 
sassafras tea, with a tea-spoon full of saltpetre 
dissolved therein. 

Let his stable be kept clean by frequently 
changing his litter, and do not permit him to get 
wet. 

Take equal parts of hogs' lard and powdered 
brimstone, mix them well, and anoint the surfeit- 
ed places once a day for a week, by which time 



136 

ihe disease will abate, and nothing more will b( 
necessary but good treatment. 



STRING HALT. 

This is a disease that affects the hind legs 
only, and is occasioned by an over-strain or vio- 
lent blow on the muscle. 

SYMPTOMS. 

This disease is known by an involuntary con- 
traction of a muscle which draws one or both 
legs when the animal first moves off, almost up 
to the belly. 

A horse thus injured is incapable of perform- 
ing long journies, although he may be rode short 
distances without appearing much fatigued. 

Such a horse is very objectionable, being un- 
easy to the rider, and unpleasant to every person 
to look at when rode. 

Good rubbing, and baths of warm vinegar and 
sweet oil, may afford momentary relief; but a 
permanent cure ought not to be expected if the 
horse is old. 



THUMPS. 

This dFsease is occasioned by bad treatment; 
and very fat or weak horses, especially the for- 
mer, is almost certain to have it if rode or work- 
ed hard in extreme hot weather; and although a 
horse is better by not having this disease, he 
ought not to be considered of much less value if 
it has not been suffered to remain too long. 

SYMPTOMS. 
This disease is known by an involuntary mo- 
tion of the flanks, and a noise which accompanies 
that motion like the beating of the heart, though 
louder. 

CURE. 

When you first discover that your beast is at- 
tacked with this disease, give him, at the first 
place you stop, a piece of chalk about the size 
of an unhulled walnut, pulverized and mixed wel! 
widi a pint of good vinegar. Use him moderate- 
ly, and feed him as you would a broken winded 
horse, repeating the dose of chalk and vinegar 
as occasion may require, and the disease will 
soon disappear, to the satisfaction of the owner.. 
12* 



138 

AVIVES, COMMONLY CALLED VIVES. 

The disease so called is a swelling from the 
roots of the ears downwards, between the jaws 
and neck, and most frequently attacks young 
horses. 

CURE. 

Moderate bleeding and gentle purging ought 
to be used as soon as the disease makes its ap- 
pearance, together with emolient clysters, and 
the swelled parts rubbed with the following oint- 
ment, viz: 

Hogs' lard, two ounces; beeswax, one ounce; 
spirits of turpentine, two spoons full ; melt them 
together over a slow fire, then take a new laid 
egg and beat it to an oil, which is to be added 
to the other ingredients, stirring them together 
until they are well incorporated : rub the swelled 
part therewith twice a day. 



WARTS. 



There is a kind of spongy knot frequently 
found sticking to horses in various parts, called 
warts : they are extremely troublesome, and more- 
over disfigure the animal more than any other 



139 

thing that could happen to him, not to be dan- 
gerous. 

CURE. 

Take three or four horse hairs, and tie them 
very tight around the neck of the wart, making 
them still tighter every day till the wart falls off; 
then apply to the wound tow or lint dipped in 
alum water, for twenty four hours; after which, 
dress and heal it as other wounds. 



WARBLES 

Are little lumps or hard swellings on the back 
of a horse, commonly called biles; they are oc- 
casioned by heat, and seldom makf* their appear- 
ance any where but under the saddle. If ihey 
are neglected, they will burst and become sit- 
fasts. 

CURE. 

If you have occasion to use a horse in this 
situation, you should wash his back well in cold 
water every time the saddie is taken off; and at 
night bathe the swellings in hot vinegar and salt, 
and if not used too severely, they will soon dis- 
appear. 



140 

WOLF TEETH. 

The disease called Wolf Teeth appears to be 
a nervous affection, and injures the eye more than 
any other part. 

SYMPTOMS. 

The eyes become weak, watery, and inflamed, 
if suffered to remain without a remedy. As this 
disease has become quite common, it is necessary 
to examine well the upper palate of the mouth in 
order to distinguish it from other sore eyes; if 
you discover a small tooth on one or both sides 
of the roof of the mouth just below the masti- 
cating teeth, it plainly proves he has this disease. 

CURE. 

The teeth which make their appearance in this 
way are easily extracted by a punch, or nippers, 
which must be done instantaneously, it being the 
only thing necessary to effect a cure, except the 
common eye-water. 



GUTTA SERENA 
Is an abolition of the sight, without any appa- 
rent cause or defect in the eyes. 



141 

SYMPTOMS. 
It may be discovered by the horse's raising his 
head and looking upwards when coming out of 
a stable, as if wanting a greater portion of light, 
and by lifting his feet high and putting them 
down cautiously. 

CURE. 

There is no cure for this disease when it is 
brought on by a decay, or wasting of the optic 
nerve; but when it proceeds from a compression 
of the nerves by redundant humours, these may 
in some measure be drained off, and the horse 
partially, if not entirely relieved. 

For this purpose the body must be kept open 
with laxative mercurial pills. If the horse be 
young and fat, he ought to be bled. Scarifica- 
tions, cupping, barring the lachrymal vein, and 
blistering on the jaws and poll of his head, have 
often been known to restore the sight: and any 
thing that will promote a running at the nose, 
will be of service. 

If these fail, recourse must be had to a mercu- 
rial salivation — or what will answer better, thirty 
grains of corrosive sublimate of mercury may be 
dissolved in about a pint of apple brandy, and 
about a gill taken twice a day, and one pint of 



142 

the decoction of sassaparilla taken after it, and 
use the eyewater as recommended in page 85. 



GRAVEL, OR STONE. 
The symptoms of this disease are, a frequent 
stretching, groaning, and fruitless attempts to 
pass water, and when discharged, it will be in 
very small quantities, with great apparent pain ; 
a gradual decline, although the appetite may be 
good; dull, sluggish, and sleepy appearance; 
little or no fever; and much short of his usual 
spirits. 

CURE. 

If the horse is suffered to remain in this situa- 
tion, he will linger and pine away until he dies: 
some remedy, therefore, should be immediately 
employed to carry off the small gravel or stones 
that are lodged in the bladder, which prevents a 
free discharge of urine, and produces the most 
excruciating pain. 

The best remedy yet known in this disease is, 
marsh mallows, watermelon seed, and asparagus, 
(improperly called by some, sparrow grass;) take j 
of each of these two large hands full, and boil I 



143 

them in three quarts of water until reduced to 
one: then add a tea-spoon full of saltpetre, strain 
it nicely, and give it as a drench. 

Take half a pound of fresh butter, and one 
large handful of red or eartii worms, stew them 
together in an earthen vessel till they turn to oil: 
strain it, and anoint his sheath and penis well, 
also the large seam from the penis up, and press^ 
ing your hand on it lightly, stroke the seam 
downwards to the extreme end of the penis for at 
least ten minutes every hour until there is an 
urinary discharge, which ought to take place in 
three hours, or less; should this not be the case, 
the dose must be repeated. Should blood be 
passed, it will clearly prove that there is gravel 
in the urinary passage, but it need not occasion 
alarm. About a quart of the decoction of syca- 
more bark, with a tea-spoon full of saltpetre, has 
been known to give relief in this disease in a (ew 
minutes. It should be given warm. 

Beat the yolks of four eggs to an oil, and give 
them in one pint of strong vinegar, and it will 
have a good effect. 

A. small quantity of shell, lime should be put 
into all the water he drinks whilst in this situa- 
tion, and let steep for some time, when it may be 
teemed off and given. 



144 
YELLOW WATER. 
This disease has become very common in the 
western States, and being infectious, has been 
known to be carried in droves from one State to 
another. It is in a horse to all appearance what 
physicians term jaundice in a man, though it is 
not infectious in the human. 

symptoms. < 

The nostrils, lips, tongue, ears, and bars of 
the mouth, turn yellow ; some difficulty in stal- 
ing; the urine high coloured; and when dis- 
charged any length of time, has the appearance 
of blood; the excrement hard, dry, yellow, and 
sometimes of a pale green. 

CURE. 

Copious bleeding appears, from experience, to 
be one of the first and best remedies in this dis- 
ease. Then take two quarts of lie made by drip- 
ping four times through half a bushel of nice 
hickory ashes; add thereto one pint of sweet or 
linseed oil; give about half a pint of this three 
or four times a day, taking care to keep him in 
a clean, dry, and dark stable, far removed from 
any other horse, as this disease is remarkably in- 
fectious. He should live principally on water 



146 

thickened with meal, instead of grain ; good fod- 
der or hay moistened with sassafras or spiceWood 
tea; or bran, wet with the same. 

Or, take one ounce of asafcedita and four table- 
spoons full of camphorated spirits: put this into 
a pint of warm water and give it for about four 
mornings successively, and it seldom fails to per- 
form a cure. 

"His bowels must be kept open by giving him 
rhubarb, aloes and senna, sufficient to operate, 
twice a week, with one ounce of Castile soap ad- 
ded thereto each dose. Moderate exercise oCca- 
sionallv will not be amiss. 



GLANDERS. 

This disease is contagious among horses, and 
is more to be dreaded than any malady to which 
they are subject. 

It may proceed from bad management in the 
common or colt distemper, or from various other 
causes, especially the farcy ; which latter disease, 
if not properly managed on its first appear- 
ance, is certain to terminate in this incurable ma- 
lady; for, be the cause what it may, it is only 
necessary to know that it is the glanders to prove 
13 



146 

to you that all your efforts to cure it will be abor- 
tive. Any person, therefore, who has the mis- 
fortune to get this disease among his horses, no 
matter how valuable they may have been, will 
save greatly by killing and burying them the in- 
stant they are known to have it. 

SYMPTOMS. 

The Glanders have at first very much the ap- 
pearance of the common distemper, only the 
blood vessels about the glands of the neck ap- 
pear much more full, become painful, and adhere 
to the bone. If the skin does not adhere, (which 
is in some instances the case,) but the glands are 
painful, it is a proof of its being the glanders. 
Jt is also to be remarked that the discharge is 
generally from one side. If you dip a rag into 
strong vinegar, and run it up bis nostrils, the 
horse will sneeze if he has not the glanders: for 
if there were ulcers in his nose, he could nor 
make so violent an effort. 

It may also be tried by putting a bucket of 
clear water under bis nose, and if the matter sink 
to the bottom, he is certain to have the glanders; 
if it swims, it is only thickened lymph. If the 
discharge is mixed with blood, or of a yellow or 



147 

greenish cast, you may readily conclude it to be 
fruitless to attempt a cure. 

It will not be amiss to use the same medicine, 
and treat him in every other respect as if he had 
the strangles, until you are certain he has the 
glanders. 

Even the glanders have been cured by salivat- 
ing immediately on the appearance of the first 
symptoms, before the disease is confirmed. 



LOCK-JAW. 

This fatal disease has never occurred but once 
in my presence, and I think it a fortunate cir- 
cumstance that it so seldom makes its appear- 
ance. 

It may be brought on by trifling causes, such 
as the wounding of nerves, tendons, &c, though 
it is most often the symptoms of approaching 
dissolution* 

SYMPTOMS. 

A difficulty in mastication, followed by the 
jaws being closed and immoveable, and a con- 
traction of the muscles of the neck, attended with 
great pain, are the certain symptoms of this dis- 
ease. 



148 
CURE 

Although it is considered generally that this 
disease bids defiance to the power of medicine ; 
from the case that occurred in my presence, I am 
confident the following well deserves a trial: 

Take from the neck vein all the blood the ani- 
mal can spare, to leave life; when he is about to 
expire, after fainting, the jaws fly open — then 
stop the blood, and give half an ounce of lauda- 
num in a pint and a half of spirits. Ether and 
hartshorn may be given with success. 



POISOIVS. 

Every person ought, in some measure, to be 
acquainted with the nature and cure of poisons 
in both man and beast. 

They are generally taken unawares, and their 
effects are often so sudden and violent as not to 
admit of delay, or allow time to procure the as- 
sistance of physicians or farriers. Happily, in- 
deed, no great degree of medical knowledge is 
here necessary, the remedies for most poisons 
being generally at hand or easily obtained, and 
nothing but common prudence needful in the ap- 
plication of them, 



149 

The vulgar notion that every poison is cured 
by some couuter-poison, as a specific, has done 
much hurt. Some people believe they can do 
nothing for the animal unless they know the par- 
ticular antidote to that kind of poison which he 
has taken. Whereas, all poisons taken into the 
stomach, without exception, depends with the 
human on discharging them as soon as possible; 
and with brutes, by absorbing and passing them 
off. 

I shall not take up the reader's time with a de- 
tail of the ridiculous notions which have prevail- 
ed among the ignorant people in different ages 
with regard to poisons; neither shall I mention 
the boasted antidotes which have been recom- 
mended either for preventing or obviating their 
effects, but shall content myself with pointing out 
the poisons most common in this country, and 
the means of avoiding their dangerous conse- 
quences in horses only. 

Poisons either belong to the mineral, the vege- 
table, or the animal kingdom. Mineral poisons 
are commonly of an acrid or corrosive quality, 
as arsenick, cobalt,, the corrosive sublimate of 
mercury, he. 

Those of the vegetable kind are generally of 
a narcotic or stupefactive quality, as poppy, hem- 
13* 



150 

lock, henbane, berries of the deadly nightshade, 
&c. The nightshade, poison oak, mayweed. &c. 
has no effect on a horse in the way of internal 
poison, but may affect the skin by being often 
rubbed on it. 

Poisonous animals communicate their infection 
either by the bite or sting. This poison is very 
different from the former, and only produces its 
effects when received into the body by a wound. 

Mineral Poisons. — Arsenick is the most com- 
mon, and to the lower class of people best known ; 
and as the whole of them are pretty similar both 
in their effects and method of cure, what is said 
with respect to it will be applicable to every 
other species of corrosive poison. 

SYMPTOMS. 

When a horse has taken poison sufficient to 
endanger his life, he suddenly becomes giddy and 
dejected, by means of the sympathy that exists 
and acts on the uerves of that organ and the 
large nerves of the head. The poison is then 
removed from the stomach (if no remedy be ap- 
plied,) by the activity of the sympathetic and ab- 
sorbent vessels, thrown into the circulation' of the 
blood, diffused over every part of the system, 
and finally carried by the arteries to the lungs, 



151 

through which all the blood in the body of a 
horse passes many times in an hour, and under- 
goes a change. Should a termination of blood 
to the head take place, as is often the case where 
the animal is not properly managed in time, it 
produces the staggers, and a delirium that gene- 
rally ends fatally. 

CURE. 

Copious bleeding two or three times the first 
week, will be found beneficial. Give immediate- 
ly after the symptoms of the disease make their 
appearance, large doses of new milk and char- 
coal, (pulverized;) oil and charcoal; plantain 
juice and charcoal; and green plantain to feed 
upon if he will eat; salad oil, asafcetida, saltpe- 
tre and spirits, as a drench, changing them oc- 
casionally; give an injection composed of half 
a pint of meal, two quarts of water, one pint of 
molasses, and half a pint of lard ; let the animal 
be well rubbed when standing, and give him mo- 
derate exercise every day; the injections should 
be repeated from one to three times a day, as 
may be found necessary. 

He should be fed on bran impregnated with 
sulphur, nitre, asafoedita, camphor and opium. 
Oily or fat substances blunt the acrimony of the 
poison, and prevents its wounding the bowels. 



152 

Aftor the poison has been evacuated, the horse 
ought for some time to be fed on such things as 
are of a cooling and healing nature, as bran, 
small quantities of green food, or fodder wet with 
sassafras tea, and any other thing easy of diges- 
tion. His drink should be flaxseed tea, spice- 
wood tea, and the lea of slippery elm. 

Vegetable Poisons, when allowed to remain in 
the stomach, often prove fatal: yet the danger is 
generally over as soon as they are discharged. 
Not being of such a corrosive nature, they are 
less apt to inflame the bowels than mineral sub- 
stances: no time, however, ought to be lost in 
having them discharged. 



SITES OF POISONOUS ANIMALS. 

I shall begin with the bite of a mad dog: if it 
is not the most common, it is the most dangerous 
animal poison m this country. 

The symptoms of madness in a dog are as fol- 
low : — At first he looks dull; shews an aversion 
to food and company; he does not bark as usual, 
but seems to murmur and howl; runs about and 
appears restless; is peevish, and apt to bite stran- 
gers; his ears and tail droop more than usual. 



153 

and he appears drowsy; afterwards he begins to 
loll out his tongue and froth at the mouth; his 
eyes seem heavy and watery, and turn red; he 
now (if not confined,) takes off, runs panting with 
a kind of dejected air, and endeavours to bite 
every person or animal he meets. Other dogs 
are said to fly from him. 

Some think this a certain sign of madness, 
supposing they know him by the smell ; but it is 
not to be depended on. If he escapes being kill- 
ed, he seldom runs above two or three days be- 
fore he dies, exhausted with heat, hunger and fa- 
tigue. It has been ascertained to a certainty, 
that the hydrophobia comes on by fits; that per- 
sons who have laboured under this deplorable 
malady, occasionally appeared quite rational, and 
many times would inquire what were there situa- 
tion when the fit was on them; and moreover, 
dogs appear at times quite friendly and submis- 
sive, when all at once they become unmanageable 
and dangerous in the extreme. 

Their seldom or never failing to return (if they 
are not killed,) to the place from whence they 
started, may be attributed to their state of mind,., 
and a desire to return to their place of residence 
when the fit is off. 



154 

CURE. 

The animal labouring under this misfortune, 
if bitten in a fleshy part, and where there is no 
danger of hurting any large blood vessel, should 
have all the wound occasioned by the bite, and 
the adjacent parts, cut ojff with all possible des- 
patch. If this cannot be done, the part should 
be scarified, and in both cases washed with salt 
and vinegar, and pulverized charcoal and salt 
applied to the wound; this should be repeated 
for several days, after which a mercurial salve 
may be applied, and the animal salivated as di- 
rected in case of the farcy. 

The next poisonous animals which I shall men- 
tion, is the Rattlesnake, Copperhead, and the 
Viper — these being the most common and dan- 
gerous of all the poisonous insects in the United 
States. 

As the Rattlesnake is the most dangerous of 
all others, and as the same manner of treatment 
will apply to all, I shall here lay down the plan 
necessary to be observed in this most common, 
and often most fatal of all animal poisons, the 
mad dog excepted. 

As soon as it is known the animal is bittrfn, 
give him a drench of an half pint of the juice of 
horehound and green plantain; scarify the wound, 



155 

and apply a poultice of pulverized charcoal sof- 
tened with oil or lard; repeat the drench every 
day for three days, and in two hours after give a 
pint of spirits impregnated with pulverized char- 
coal. Nothing more will be necessary but to take 
about five quarts of blood from the neck vein at 
two different times. 

Trifling as the charcoal may appear to some, 
it is reduced to a matter of fact, in my opinion, 
that nothing is equal to it to absorb poison, and 
nothing more proper to be applied externally or 
internally. 

It must be observed in all cases where charcoal 
is used, that it must first be thrown into the fire 
and remain until red hot, then pulverized and sift- 
ed through a fine sifter or cloth, 

The animal should live for some days on plan- 
tain and other green food, and bran scalded with 
sassafras tea — his drink, elm, linseed, sassafras, 
and spicevvood teas. 

With regard to poisonous insects, as the bee, 
the wasp, the hornet, &c, their stings are seldom 
attended with danger unless the. animal should 
happen to be confined near a nest of them, and 
stung by a great number of them at the same 
time, in which case something should be done to 
abate the inflammation and swelling. Some for 



156 

this purpose apply honey to the part, others 
pounded parsley; hut I have always succeeded 
very weli by washing the part with salt and vine- 
gar, and applying a poultice of slippery elm. 

Poisonous vegetables abound almost every 
where, and often prove fatal. Such plants have 
no doubt their use, and they ought to be propa- 
gated in proper places: but as they often prove 
destructive to cattle, they should be rooted out 
of all pasture grounds, which might be done with 
but little trouble or expense. 



WOUNDS. 

No part of medicine has been more mistaken 
than the treatment or cure of wounds. Mankind 
in general believe that certain herbs, ointments, 
and plasters, are possessed of wonderful healing 
powers, and imagine that no wound can be cured 
without the application of them. It is, however, 
a fact, that no external application whatever con- 
tributes towards the cure of a wound, otherwise 
than by keeping the parts soft and clean, and de- 
fending them from the external air, dust, flies and 
sun, which may be as effectually done without 
medicine, as by the most pompous applications. 



157 

whilst it is exempt from any of the bad conse- 
quences attending them. 

The same observation holds with respect to 
internal applications. These only promote the 
cure of wounds as far as they tend to prevent a 
fever, or remove any cause that might obstruct 
or impede the operations of nature. It is nature 
alone that cures wounds. All that art can do is 
to remove obstacles, and to put the part in such 
a condition as is the most favourable to nature's 
efforts. 

With this simple view I shall consider the treat- 
ment of wounds, and endeavour to point out such 
steps as ought to be taken to facilitate their cure. 

The first thing to be done when a wound has 
been received, is to examine whether any foreign 
body be lodged in it, as wood, stone, iron, lead, 
glass, dirt, sand, or the like; these, if possible, 
must be extracted, and the wound cleansed before 
an} 7 dressings be applied. After this is done, no- 
thing more is required than the bringing the lips 
of the wound in contact by sewing it with a small 
needle, and strong thread or silk: about two 
stitches to the inch will be sufficient, and that 
must not be so tight as to prevent it from dis- 
charging the bruised blood, matter, &c. 
14 



158 

Should the loss of blood be too great, the ves- 
sels must be taken up with a crooked needle, as 
directed in the chapter treating on surgical ope- 
rations. 

Cover the wound with lint or soft tow wet with 
equal parts of sweet oil and the spirits of turpen- 
tine, confined with a rag to keep out the dust 
and air, and to prevent the dust and flies from 
having any effect on it. 



chapter in; 



SURGICAL OPERATIONS. 

P eave thought proper to give in this work a 
short description of the surgical operations prac- 
tised on the bodies of horses, and the manner of 
treating them after the operations. As the same 
operations are practised on different occasions, 
and for different diseases, it would have been dif- 
ficult to give them a suitable place in the course 
of this work : and we will have the advantage of 
seeing in abbreviation a species of surgery ap- 
pertaining entirely to horses. I might have swell- 
ed this chapter by a larger detail, but being un- 
willing to advance or borrow any thing from 
others, even the best, whose experience (which is 
the surest ground on which to rest,) has not con- 
vinced me of their knowledge or skill, I shall 
content myself with making observations upon 
the operations that have been made in the pre- 
sence of every body. 



JGO 
BLISTERING. 

The application of blisters has become so com- 
mon in this country, that scarcely any person is 
at a loss to know how to prepare a plaster, or 
how to manage a blister after it is drawn. The 
only difference in drawing a blister on a horse, 
from a man, is, that the hair must be shaved 
ciose, the part rubbed more, and washed with 
strong vinegar, or spirits made warm, and the 
plaster continued on longer. If any person should 
have occasion to use a blistering plaster who does 
not know how to make one, the following rule 
will answer: 

Take about a quarter of a pound of tallow and 
two table-spoons full of the oil or spirits of tur-* 
pentine, to an ounce of Spanish flies: mix them 
well together, and it is fit for use. If it should 
be too soft, add a little beeswax. 

This mixture should be spread on strong linen, 
cotton cloth, or (what is better,) soft leather, of 
sufficient size to cover the part you may want to 
blister; let it remain twelve hours at least, and 
see that the animal is so confined as not to be 
able to bite or rub it off. 

After the blister is sufficiently drawn, take off 
the plaster and let out the contents, then apply 



1.61 

cabbage or plantain leaves dipped in hot water s 
and repeat them as often as necessary, until the 
blister is done running. 



SETONS. 

A Seton should be made in the shape of a 
small cord, half tow and half hair, and intro- 
duced between the flesh and the skin, to give issue 
to injurious matters. 

This operation is performed on various parts 
of the body, as on the poll, shoulders, jaws, &c. 
But the principal one being made at the shoul- 
der, we shall easily discover the manner of per- 
forming the others without the necessity of point- 
ing out the manner in. which each separate one 
should be treated. 

When we wish to apply a seton to the shoul- 
der, we must begin by rubbing it with a brick, 
or any other hard substance, because the skin is 
by that means more easily separated from the 
flesh. When you have rubbed the part, cut a 
small place across the skin three or four inches 
above the junction of the elbow; then with a 
polished buck born destined for that use, direct- 
ing it towards the withers, rubbing around the 
14* 



162 

wound and towards it, that the coagulated mat- 
ters may gather in that place; when your seton 
is introduced, make it fast by tying both ends 
together, but not so tight as to prevent its moving, 
which should be done every day for the purpose 
of cleansing and keeping the wound open. 

It should be continued eighteen or twenty days, 
although some impatient persons who wish to see 
at once the evil or good effect of the operation, 
withdraw it on the ninth day : but experience de- 
monstrates that in serious cases this term is too 
short. During the continuance of the seton, the 
horse should be fed on bran, hay or fodder, green 
food in small quantities, and his drink occasion- 
ally enriched by throwing a handful of meal and 
a spoonful of salt into it. 

When this operation is performed on any part, 
the wound should be in proportion to its size. 

This manner of operating is well imagined, 
because it attacks the disease in its principal, and 
gives vent to humours that might otherwise be 
pernicious. 

The danger to be met with is a great ramifica- 
tion of veins spreading over that part, and which 
prevents the operation from succeeding under 
the hands of a person unless well acquainted 
with the situation and structure of those vessels. 



163 

But for this knowledge the horse might lose his 
life with his blood — for this misfortune is without 
a remedy. The effect of this remedy is to pro- 
cure an abundant discharge of superfluous matter 
formed by bruised and lacerated fibres which are 
destro} 7 ed by the introduction of the seton be- 
tween the skin and the frame of the shoulder. 

The neighbouring parts are likewise greatly 
improved by the operation. 



BLEEDING. 

Bleeding is one of those operations that are 
most often practised on animals as well as men. 
Tiiis operation is only an incision made in the vein 
for the purpose of drawing blood. As there are 
two kinds of vessels that contain it, to wit: the 
veins and arteries, this incision may be made in 
both. 

Every part of the body is pervaded with veins 
and arteries, and every part would likewise be 
subject to the operation of bleeding if the small- 
ness or bigness of the vessels did not reduce the 
operation to a few parts in which the vessels are 
of a moderate size. 

The extreme ramifications of the vessels called 
capillary extremities would afford too little blood, 



164 



and the large vessels, such as arteries, would 
yield so much, and with such impetuosity, that it 
would be difficult to arrest its course. 

I shall therefore reduce to the following num- 
ber, or thereabouts, that of practical bleedings, 
or, at least, necessary ones. This operation is 
commonly made in the tongue, roof of the mouth, 
Beck, arm, flanks, inside of the thigh, crown of 
the hoof, and tail. 

Divers instruments are made use of for this 
operation: such as the lancet, fleam, knife, he* 
The fleam is most in use, and is the safest in horse 
bleeding. 



BLEEDING IN THE NECK 

Is the only operation in which ligature is ne- 
cessary : for I do not speak of that which is made 
in the pastern joints when we wish to bar the 
vein for the purpose of drawing blood, which is 
done rather to secure the tying of the vein than 
for the sake of bleeding. 

I would advise all persons in bleeding to have 
a large rope, sursingle, or leather strap, and to 
tie or buckle it as near the shoulders and withers 
as possible; in using the rope, many persons are 



165 

in the habit of making a tight knot on the run- 
ning noose — this should be avoided on account 
of the difficulty in untying it in case of emer- 
gency, for it often happens that the horse faints 
under the operation. For another reason the 
rope, he. should not be too tight, as it might 
cause the horse to stagger and fall by compress- 
ing the neck vessels too much. 

If he have a bridle on, the bit should be kept 
in motion, that the working of his jaws may serve 
to swell the vein ; if a baiter be on instead of the 
bridle, the same effect may be produced by put- 
ting the finger, or a stick, in the room of a bit., 
When the vein is sufficiently raised, place your 
fleam firmly upon it, and if it has not a spring, 
strike with a crooked stick or bone sufficiently 
hard to make the incision at one blow ; by strik- 
ing too softly, we cut the skin without opening 
the vessel, and by striking too violently, we might 
injure the horse. Practice will point out a just 
medium, which books cannot indicate, 

When you have drawn a sufficiency of blood, 
you must, before you close the incision, press 
lightly around it, (which is commonly done by 
running the rope over that made the ligament,) 
and with the fingers close the orifice and remove 
the calcinated blood. 



166 

It is best to use this precaution, because i"t 
sometimes happens that inflammations and sores 
are occasioned by neglecting it : the consequence 
of which might produce gangrene, especially in 
very warm weather. Then take the lips of the 
incision between the finger and thumb, run a pin 
through them as near the edges as possible, and 
wrap it with a few hairs wet with the blood; about 
the second day, or as soon as you can with safety, 
draw out the pin to prevent the scar from being 
too large, or remaining too long*. 



BLEEDING IN THE TONGUE. 

All other bleedings are performed without a 
rope, even that of the tongue. 

This is done by drawing out the tongue cau- 
tiously, turning it a little, wetting it with a sponge, 
and cutting with a fleam or lancet any of the in- 
ferior veins. You may let it bleed at discretion, 
because the blood will stop of itself, the veins be- 
ing small. 

This is generally practised for the Vims, 



167 

BLEEDING IN THE PALATE. 

Nothing h more common then this. Horse 
men use it without asking advice, so soon as tliey 
perceive that their horses are uneasy, or refuse 
food. A sharp knife, pointed buck horn, or any 
other sharp instrument, is used in this operation, 
which they stick in the first, second, or third bar. 
This bleeding, if performed any farther, would be 
attended with danger, on account of the difficulty 
of arresting the blood: — when this accident hap- 
pens, you must draw a cord or twine as tight as 
you can just above or on the incision, and tie it 
under the upper lip in front of his mouth; apply 
a little vitriol and flour to the wound, tie his head 
high, and keep him from food five or six hours. 
It is likewise used in the lampas, because it frees 
the vessels, whose fullness occasions the disease. 



BLEEDING IN THE ARMS. 
This kind of bleeding among farriers is consi- 
dered to be the most difficult. We place no liga- 
ment for the purpose of swelling the vessel, be- 
cause it is sufficiently apparent : but as this ves* 
sel easily moves, you must place the point of the 
fleam as nearly as possible on the centre of the 



168 

vein, and strike it a little harder than when bleed- 
ing in the neck, on account of the toughness of 
the skin; then you treat the incision as in bleed- 
ing in the neck. This is practised for strain? 
and sprains either in the knee or shoulder, and 
other similar accidents. 



BLEEDING IN THE THIGH. 

In this case we do not wet the vein, because 
it is sufficiently apparent, and the skin is more 
tender. Cut the vein transversely or cross- 
wise. To prevent being kicked in performing 
this and other operations on and about the hind 
legs, you should make some person hold up one 
of his fore feet. 

This kind of bleeding is used for strains in the 
hips, hams and reins. 



BLEEDING IN THE FLANKS. 
Though this sort of bleeding is not so difficult 
as the preceding, nevertheless, it sometimes re- 
quires more time to execute it. 



169 

The vessel runs from the anterior to the pos- 
terior of the horse's belly, and appears at times 
very large, at others very diminutive. 

When the vein is sunk, or small, you must wet 
the hair with warm water, using the fleam as in 
the bleeding of the arm. 

There are, however, some persons who cut the 
vein crosswise without striking the fleam, by 
drawing or pushing it — but this manner of bleed- 
ing is more in use in bleeding the inside of the 
thigh. 

Bleeding in the flanks is used for gripings* 



BLEEDING IN THE TAIL. 

We bleed in the tail for a jar, or over-strain 
in the reins. 

It is executed different ways — either by cutting 
a joint oif, splitting the tail by a cross incision, 
or in the shape of the letter T, or pricking the 
tail from the sixth joint to the tip. 

When a horse has a very long tail, you ought 
not to be afraid of cutting a joint or two> espe- 
cially when it has a tendency to prevent the hair 
from coming out. 
15 



no 

If it should bleed too much, the blood may be 
stopped by tying a twine tight around the bone 
as near as possible to the end of the tail, apply- 
ing flour or tar to the end, or by searing; if the 
tail is kept strained up, it will prevent it from 
bleeding. If tied, the twine must be cut off as 
soon as it can be done with safety. 

This kind of bleeding is also made use ef for 
strains in the hips and reins. 



BLEEDING IN THE CORONET. 

This kind of bleeding is thought by farriers 
to be necessary in founders, strains in the hoof 
joint, &c. 

In performing this operation, proceed as di- 
rected in the case of founders, page 100, observ- 
ing at all times to bleed, as near the middle of 
the crown or fore part of the hoof as possible, to 
avoid the tendon that spreads from the heel to the 
toe. Be careful not to cut too deep, on account 
of the danger of creating ulcers that might be 
troublesome. Should it continue to bleed more 
than necessary, it may be stopped by pulverizing 
a little salt and pepper and applying it to the 
wound, taking care to grease the hoof with an 



171 



equal portion of tar and lard to prevent an in- 
flammation. The hoof should be kept clean, 



BLEEDING IN THE LACHRYMAL VEIN. 

This sort of bleeding, nowadays, is seldom 
performed, only- when you wish to bar the vein. 

All these operations are performed without 
tying: but the following, which is more painful 
and tedious than the preceding, generally requires 
that the horse be confined, as well for the secu- 
rity of the operator, as that of the horse and as- 
sistants. 



MANNER OF GLANDING,. 

Horses whose glands are overcharged and har- 
dened at the junction of the upper and lower 
jaws, ought to be gSanded. 

After having confined, tied, and suspended him 
as he must be, or thrown him, you must raise his 
head high by means of a rope; split the skin, 
making a longitudinal incision: then with your 
fingers, or a buck's horn made smooth and sharp, 
secure the gland and raise it* that you may know 



172 

where to cut the diseased flesh, carefully avoid* 
ing the veins, nerves, and arteries. 

If, however, you have unknowingly made an 
incision in any of the vessels, you should tie it 
by means of a curved needle, threaded with waxed 
thread, running it under the vessel and embracing 
a little flesh (except the nerves,) in the ligament. 

In lieu of a ligament, apply a little pulverized 
vitriol on a rag, but if the vessel can be secured, 
tying is preferable. 

Dress the wound by washing it first with good 
old soap, then with vinegar and water; and if 
the flesh project out of the skin, you should put 
on it a liniment imbibed with vitriolic oil, and 
fill the wound with lint dipped in vitriolic water. 



UNROOFING. 
Founders and many other accidents make it 
necessary sometimes, that a horse should lose his 
hoofs; but I cannot say that I am an advocate 
for the practice of loosening and taking them oft 
in the manner practised by farriers. As a horse 
can be of no service without a hoof, I think it 
much the best way in this case to trust to nature 
to do the greatest part of the work* 



The old hoof should be constantly kept cut 
as close as possible, not to make it sore ; the out- 
side well rasped, and often anointed with equal 
parts of the spirits of turpentine and sweet oil. 
A leather boot should be made just large enough 
to slip his foot in, and sufficiently long to fasten 
around the ancle. This boot should occasion- 
ally be filled with warm tallow for the purpose 
of keeping his hoof soft and clean; and as the 
upper part of the hoof is smaller than the lower, 
over which it has to come, the old hoof ought to 
be split in three or four places, from the crown 
downwards, to give room for a new one. This, 
in my estimation, is all that is necessary to-do. 



DIRECTIONS FOR GELDING. 

On a slight view of this subject, it may be 
thought by some to be utterly impossible to make 
any extraordinary or useful improvement in a 
branch of surgery that has for many centuries 
been the necessary performance of thousands of 
persons. 

Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless 
true, that the danger in throwing horses and per- 
forming the necessary operation of gelding tker% 
15* 



174 

as well as all other animals, has from a new cuV 
covery become plain, easy, and safe, as will ap- 
pear from the following directions, to wit: 

1st. Provide yourself with two sticks turned 
in a lathe out of strong, hard wood, six inches 
long 1 and three quarters of an inch in diameter. 

2d. Split these with a fine saw exactly in the 
centre, and make out of them a pair of clamps 
by hollowing the inside of each piece one inch 
and a half from the centre, with a gouge. 

3d. Fill the hollows with soft wheat dough, and 
sprinkle that thick over with a powder made of 
two parts of corrosive sublimate and one of red 
precipitate; your clamps u*re now ready to fastea 
together, which do in the usual way at one end, 
leaving the other open for use. 

4th. Provide a leather strap three inches wide 
and fifteen feet long, of good harness leather, 
doubled and made strong. 

5tb. Get three buckles with rollers sufficiently 
large to receive the strap,. 

6th. Get four sliders of the same size, or four 
*>ther buckles with the tongues broken out will 
answer the same purpose, but they must also 
have rollers. 

7th. Make a running noose at one end of the 
long strap: three inches from the end of the 



175 

sioose fasten one of your slides, so that you will 
be enabled to fasten this end or noose around the 
right ancle of the fore foot, the slide in. 

8th. Have three other straps eight inches long, 
and to each of these fix a buckle at one end, and 
a slide three inches from the buckle, as before: 
buckle these tight around the ancles, with the 
buckles out and the slides inside, and fasten your 
long strap to the right fore ancle, 

0th. Run your strap through the slide on the 
right hind ancle, then the left, the left fore, and 
from thence to the right fore ancle, and you are 
ready to throw him on the bed of straw or soft 
ground, which you should have previously pro- 
Tided for that purpose. 

10th. Step off in front of him, inclining some- 
what to his left or near side, draw your strap 
with strength and dexterity, and in half a minute 
you will land him safely on his right side. 

11th. Turn him on his back and draw your 
strap under and around the small of his back 
twice, and between his fore legs, and fasten k 
well. You are now ready to perform the opera- 
lion, which is done in the usual way, with only 
this difference: — when you come to the strings 
do not scrape and draw it as is customary, (this 
practice is proven to injure and weaken the anir 



176 

mal, and is more difficult to cure,) but seize it 
with one of your clamps, which fasten on well 
by tying fast the open end. 

12th. At one cut take off the stone. Proceed 
in like manner with the other, and let the clamps 
remain on twelve hours, by which time he will 
not only be rendered safe from bleeding, but the 
parts will have mattered, and from the effect of 
the medicine, be in a good way to heal. 

Nothing is more common than to use horses 
thus operated on, from the hour it is performed : 
but a few hours or days rest would be of service 
The cost of the machine and medicine made use 
of on this occasion, ought not to be an object, 
as one strap, &c. will serve half a county many 
years. 



BARRING THE V.EINS* 

This operation is only necessary to be per- 
formed when there is too great a profusion of 
blood at any one part, which has a tendency to 
keep up an inflammation and prevent a cure from 
being effected. 

It may be performed two ways : — by fire and 
ligament. The veins may be barred in almost 



m 

every part of the body, viz : the lachrymal, the 
arm above the knee, the hock, the pasterns, &c. 

When you wish to bar the lachrymal vein, 
put a rope around the horse's neck to swell it, as 
it is a ramification of the external neck vein. 
Put your hand in his mouth to force him to use 
his tongue and jaws, which will facilitate the 
swelling of the vessel : then cut the skin longi- 
tudinally, and deep enough to discover the vein; 
loosen it as easily as you can by means of a buck 
horn introduced under it, and sliding it up and 
down about the space of an inch; thread the horn 
with a silk twine about the size of a shoemaker's 
end, and waxed ; make the first knot towards the 
neck vein, after which make an incision in the vein 
about a quarter of an inch from the ligament, 
then make a second knot next to the eye to stop 
the blood, anoint it once a day (until well) with 
rose oil, cream, or any thing else that will have 
a tendency to stop the inflammation* 

The horse should be bled to diminish the quan- 
tity of blood, which might otherwise cause a con=< 
siderable swelling, 



178 

PRICKING IN SHOEING. 

This accident so frequently occurs, and the in- 
jury occasioned thereby to travellers and others 
is so great, as to make it necessary to use every 
precaution to guard against its effects, for which 
purpose every blacksmith should keep a phial of 
the spirits of turpentine at his shop, and when an 
accident of that kind happens, draw out the nail 
immediately with the nippers and fill the hole 
with the spirits of turpentine; by pursuing such 
a course, a very serious injury that might other- 
wise ensue, may be avoided, and the cost to each 
smith not amount to more than six cents a year. 

I would observe that almost all diseases in the 
feet are more or less the result of bad shoeing: 
hy wounding the muscles, veins, nerves, or arte- 
ries, in the way. Every clod-headed fellow who 
has acquired the name of a blacksmith, pretends 
to be well skilled in this art— -but there are few 
indeed sufficiently skilled in that knowledge to 
make it even safe to trust a horse of value to 
their care for the purpose of being shod. How 
is it possible that an unskilful man can perform 
this operation without running a great risk of 
present or future injury? A smith must not only 
be careful and well skilled in his profession, but 
he. should also be acquainted with the anatomy o.t 



179 

-a horses foot, which is a thing that few of our 
smiths have any knowledge of: this, and this 
alone, has rendered many a fine horse useless^ 
A nail which is rightly made should fit well the 
hole in the shoe after being driven, and only be 
of a length sufficient to come through the hoof 
from a half inch to three quarters, of a gradual 
taper from the head (which should be small,) to 
the point, and sufficiently small where it comes 
through the hoof to enable a man, before it is 
driven, to bend it between his finger and thumbr 






FIRING. 
There was a time when no remedy was so uni- 
versally used as this in the diseases of horses; it 
was even in great repute in those of men : and it 
would be a question, perhaps not ill-founded, to 
know if the apparent cruelty of this remedy 
ought to have been a sufficient reason to bring it 
into disrepute. If modern surgery has perfected 
the dexterity of the hand for the boldest opera- 
tions, it has perhaps lost by applying itself to the 
hand an infinite resource for treating a number 
of diseases which antiquity cured by the means 
of fire, and which modern surgery abandons as 



180 

incurable, or undertakes without success, not- 
withstanding the high degree of perfection to 
which it has arrived. 

We must now proceed to the manner of apply- 
ing the fire : 

The fire is in use for the same reasons, and 
perhaps in the same cases for which we apply a 
seton — that is, when there is an extraordinary 
tumour caused by the extravasation of the juices 
which, by its continuance, may become corrupt* 
alter and even destroy a part, or by its removal 
embarrass its movement. Abundant suppurations, 
which are often accompanied or preceded by 
great inflammations, being much to be appre- 
hended in the tendinous parts, which are about 
the joints, because those parts yield but little) 
and would become gangrenous rather than length- 
en or dilate beyond a certain measure propor- 
tionably to their spring; for these reasons, I say, 
they have banished from those parts the use of 
the seton, which is only applied to the fat and 
fleshy parts in which all those .accidents* when- 
ever they happen, are less dangerous. Besides 
this advantage of the fire over the seton, there is 
another one to be considered, that is, that the 
fire has a dissolving tendency in itself. 



ISi 

It is not sufficient to give vent to juices that 
are foreign to a particular part; we must besides 
give to that juice, which is often thickened, flu- 
idity, and the necessary facility to discharge itself 
through the aperture that has been made: this is 
what is called digesting or resolving a humour. 
Moreover, there are in all animal bodies matters 
of a peculiar nature, or which acquire that nature 
by their absence from their proper place: some 
of which become glutinous, others resemble tal- 
low, wax, gum, or rosin, mixed with earthy mat- 
ters. These matters can but seldom, especially 
when they have acquired some sort of consis- 
tency, be dissolved by the common remedies ex- 
tracted from plants, and of which ordinary blis- 
ters are composed; the actual heat of fire (infi- 
nitely more lively than that of all those topical 
applications,) is much better calculated to dis- 
solve those matters which embarrass the move- 
ments of the joints. This activity peculiar to 
fire, renders it one of the most efficacious of all 
remedies in ttie diseases of those parts. It con- 
tracts the fibres, (an experiment easily made by 
exposing a piece of leather to the heat of fire,) 
and consequently restores their spring, which, 
though in an imperceptible manner, are neverthe- 
less in a perpetual act of contraction and relaxa- 
16 



182 

tiori. Tliis action would be useless on juicea 
thickened to a certain point: for that reason na- 
ture alone seldom cures those evils; but those 
juices being melted by the heat of fire, and the 
action being increased, the humour is dispersed, 
and returns insensibly into its means of circula- 
tion. The cicatrice which is left having harden- 
ed the neighbourhood of the tumour, serves as a 
barrier to prevent a new deposit. It is for this 
reason that fire, if it does not diminish the tu- 
mour, at least prevents its increase. 

The action of fire has another advantage over 
the seton: it is more limited, penetrates no far- 
ther than you desire, and destroys nothing except 
on the exterior, only when it is used in opening 
abscesses, such as the pole evil, fistula, &c, in 
which case the destruction does not proceed from 
the fire, the depredation having been done before 
by the matter that we wish to take away. We 
do not always make an opening by the applica- 
tion of fire, the ordinary mode of doing it being 
generally superficial, pressing more or less, and 
moving the fire over a space more or less exten- 
sive, according to the extent of the disease and 
the shape of the part. It is for this reason that 
we sometimes apply only slight rays of fire, 
points, buttons, stars, he. Sometimes, when the 



J S3 

disease is great, we make circles of fire: that is,, 
the circle is first made with a knife, then rays, 
and with a sharp pointed piece of iron, also heat- 
ed, we apply buttons between the rays. To ap- 
ply the fire in all the different manners, we use di- 
vers instruments, to wit: pieces of money, knives, 
round and fiat buttons, points, S's, according to 
the necessities of the parts. Some persons are 
scrupulous about the materials of which the in- 
struments ought to be made; some pretend that 
they ought to be made of gold, others insist upon 
silver, some on brass, and the greatest number 
on iron or steel. 

The fire of gold and silver is almost univer- 
sally acknowledged to be too violent: brass would 
be milder, but smiths are more accustomed to 
know the just degree of the heat of iron, than 
of any other metal. 

As to the divers modes of applying it, the situa- 
tion and the shape of the part will determine its 
figure — for example, the veins are barred with 
the fire; and this custom is less painful and dai> 
gerous than the preceding; for fire does not cause 
so great an inflammation, particularly in the legs, 
which have sometimes been seen swollen to the 
size of a man's body, which never happens by 
the fire. 



lt.4 

it is performed with the firing knife, making 
a cross or star on the vein, or drawing over it 
two or three little rays : by that means we may 
avoid the danger of the farcy, of which I have 
already spoken. 

In this manner we bar the vein in the lachry- 
mal, the hock, the arm, the thigh, &c. 

Abscesses are pierced with points of fire, espe- 
cially on the withers, the poll, for the poll evil, 
the loins, and those places in which I have said 
sitfasts come, when there is a gristle. At the 
shoulder, for a strain or swinney, and strained 
hip, in which case it is made in the shape of a 
wheel, with any other marks inside the circle that 
the operator may think best. 

When the hoofs are split, draw the letter S on 
the split part, so as to create a little sore, which 
will tend to re-unite the parts, and give time to a 
softer hoof to grow in the place of the decayed 
one. Where there is inflammation in the split, 
draw instead of an S, two little rays of fire on 
each side of it. The application of fire is bene- 
ficial in the salenders, malenders, and spavins > 
particularly the latter, in which it is indispen 
sable. 



185 

There are many things to be observed in order 
to apply the fire with utility, which is generally 
a very efficacious remedy. 

In the first place, the time is that of necessity, 
discarding those ridiculous notions of the course 
of the moon, or the position of other planets. 

2d. It is proper, if there be inflammation in 
the diseased part, to remove it by means of emo- 
lient remedies, for fear of augmenting it by fire. 

3d. You must never heat the irons in stone 
coal, because it heats too violently, and by its 
ardour eats up the knives, and indents them, 
whereas they must be kept even and smooth : use 
charcoal only. You must have several heated 
at the same time, that you may not be in want of 
them during the operation, and that you may 
finish it at once. 

4th. They must be red, but not sparkle. 

5th. Your hand must be light. Let it be un- 
derstood, however, that you must press sufficient- 
ly to give the flesh a cherry colour, and not be 
contented with burning the hair only: but be 
careful not to sink the iron so heavily as to pierce 
the skin. 

6th. You must not be impatient after firing, 
either on account of the dressing of wounds, or 
the success of the cure . I say on account of the 
16* 



186 

treatment, because you must not give him exer- 
cise if iie has been fired in the legs, for several 
days after the falling of the scab, which seldom 
happens in less than two weeks, and is as long in 
curing. Also, you must not be uneasy about the 
success of the cure, for it often happens that the 
horse that has been fired for lameness, may go 
lame for six months, and perhaps a year after; 
but though the effect of this remedy be slow, it 
nevertheless operates with sufficient certainty: 
and if it remove not the disease, it will at least 
arrest its progress. After having applied the 
tire, rub the burn with oil and honey, or oil and 
turpentine, for ten or twelve days; after which, 
apply a plaster of fresh horse dung stewed in 
;ard, and strained for use. 

7th. The horse must be kept from rubbing or 
biting himself. 

8th. If the fire act but little, or the wound 
closes too fast, you should bathe the rays of fire 
with a feather dipped in the oil of vitriol — this 
would make the eifect of the fire more resolute 
and active. 

9th. If the fire has made too great an impres- 
sion, apply a poultice of slippery elm, or bathe 
the parts with a decoction of the bark of the 
same. Although I have said that there was no 



1S7 

precise time for the application of fire, and that 
necessity alone pointed it out, nevertheless, when 
you are at liberty to choose, especially in cases 
which are not very pressing, there is a conside- 
rable advantage obtained in preferring autumn, 
because the heat and flies being past, the horse 
is less incommoded by them. It would be well 
to keep the animal the whole winter in the sta- 
ble, and at the commencement of the spring, 
bring him out in the dew, either in a pasture or 
meadow. Mares that have been fired, may be 
pastured in the spring, instead of stabling, as we 
are obliged to do with stallions. When this ope- 
ration is performed on a horse of great value, 
we ought not to regret the length of time he has 
been in idleness; in the sequel he makes up for 
this loss by his labour, and we hardly ever see 
any accidents happening to the parts to which 
fire has been applied. 



DOCKING. 

The docking of a horse is an operation so sim- 
ple, and so often practised, (and seen by every 
one,) as to require but little skill or judgment in 
its performance; it is best, however, to have the 



tail well strained up and turned over his back, 
and not to take it entirely off at one blow, but 
cut through the skin and tendons to the bone, 
which will draw from an half inch to an inch on 
being cut: then cut through the joint as far from 
the end as you can, and even with the flesh when 
drawn : tie this fast whilst strained up, with a 
twine, or waxed end, then sear it with a hot 
smooth iron, and it is two to one if he does not 
carry a high tail afterwards; on the second day 
cut off the twine. 

Before you commence this operation, and all 
others of the same nature, it will be well to fasten 
what is commonly called a twitch around the up- 
per lip of the horse, but not so high as to pre- 
vent his breathing, and let some strong person 
hold up one of his fore legs to prevent his kick- 
ing, or doing other injury. 

The place should be kept greased until well, 
which will be in a few days afterwards. When 
a horse is docked, the same tendons, arteries and 
nerves, are separated as in nicking; but it is very 
rare that a horse's life is endangered by perform* 
ing this operation. 



189 

NICKING. 
This barbarous practice, as far as my acquain- 
tance extends, is entirely out of fashion. I shall 
therefore omit giving any directions on that sub- 
ject in this treatise ; if, however, it should again 
become fashionable, I will not omit, in some fu- 
ture edition, to give the most plain, safe, and 
complete methods of performing the operation. 



% 






CONCLUSION, 



As it is always easier to prevent than cure a 
disease, I shall conclude this treatise by recom- 
mending the following plan : See your horse as 
often as may be convenient— twice or thrice in 
twenty-four hours is not too often, and will only 
be amusement for an industrious man, a man of 
taste, or one who delights in the most noble and 
useful animal belonging to the brute creation 
By such attention you will soon become acquaint- 
ed with the constitution, and always know the 
situation of your horse, which will undoubtedly 
be of infinite service in preventing diseases; the 
strictest attention should therefore be paid to the 
rules Said down in the preceding part of this trea- 
tise. I repeat it, by pursuing such a course, I 
never lost a horse in my life, though owner of 
from one to eight at a time for the last thirty 
years. 

To render this book more useful, however, as 
well as more acceptable to the intelligent part of 
mankind, I have in most diseases recommended 
die most simple and approved forms of medicine, 
and added such cautions and directions only as 



191 

seemed necessary for their safe administration. 
It would no doubt have been more acceptable to 
many, had the book abounded with pompous pre- 
scriptions, and promised great cures in conse- 
quence of their use; but this was not my plan. 
I think the administration of medicines always 
doubtful, and often dangerous, and would much 
rather teach men how to avoid the necessity of 
using them, (with man or beast.) than how they 
should be used. 

Before I conclude, I beg leave to call the at- 
tention of all landholders to the necessity of rear- 
ing their own horses and cattle, he. To any one 
who has reflected upon the subject, it must al- 
ways have been a matter of surprize that so many 
fine horses used in this State, should be purchased 
from others. Such want of enterprize and com- 
mon apprehension of what is practicable and pro- 
fitable in the very line of their business, is abso- 
lutely disreputable to the landholders of this and 
all other States where it is the case. The thing 
would be different if there were not a great num- 
ber of horses reared within the State, because 
then it might be inferred that omission to rear 
our own horses was the result of sound calcula- 
tion; that it was dictated by a conviction, that 
being convenient for the transportation of tobac- 



192 

co, and better acquainted with the cultivation of 
that plant than the breeding of horses, it was bet- 
ter to rely altogether upon selling produce and 
buying horses, than to rear them. But the fact 
is known to be otherwise: there are immense 
sums of money annually drawn from, instead of 
coming into the pockets of our citizens, for pork 
and horses. Now I hold that every farmer ought 
to raise his own horses, and that he ought to be 
ashamed to use a horse of another's breeding, an 
indifferent one, or eat meat of another's raising. 
I believe it must be far more economical to rear 
them, because I am satisfied that whatever may 
appear to be the expense of it on paper, and in 
the abstract, in point of fact and practice, very 
little money is realized for that on which a fine 
horse and a plenty of pork might be reared on 
almost every farmer's estate. Let every one then 
set about rearing horses, hogs and cattle, for his* 
own use at least, and if each will begin and con- 
tinue to breed from the very best stocks within 
his reach and means, it is easy to imagine that, 
prodigious improvements would soon result from 
the general effort, and our State, instead of be- 
ing more scarce of cash than others, would soon 
become as independent as those that we have, on 
account of such conduct, thrown the balance of 
trade in favour of, against our own. 



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